AnnandaleGaming

it's a long way to Regalport...

2007-12-01T22:09:00.000-05:00

Ok, we here at the Annandale Gaming blog are SO far behind that we are going to try and sum up a couple of sessions as quickly as possible.

To wit;

1. Statues rescued.
2. Second ship found and attacked.
3. Elf ninjas.

Clearly, bullet points are not the way to do this. The people responsible for trying bullet points have been dealt with.*

The Spear of Dawn took on some crewmen who surrendered from the ships they overtook, since they legitimately did not know they were working for Daask or what they were doing. Supplies and stores were also taken aboard.

Unfortunately, somewhere among those innocent crewmen and/or the stores was the "failsafe" plan for the statues; a Thuranni assassin team, led by a Thuranni Shadow Hunter.

While the party was scattered all over the ship, gambling, sleeping, watching the sea, on separate decks. Adan was, naturally, the first to notice anything was wrong when, going below decks, he found an airman lying in his hammock with his throat slit.

Darkened, dangerous, shadowy combat ensued. Our heroes were victorious, naturally. One junior member of the team was captured and interrogated; the leader swallowed supremely lethal poison before Adan could make good on plans to capture him as well.

Lorrister was furious; two of his airmen were dead. The Thuranni wizardess the party captured knew little but explained they had snuck aboard the ship as a failsafe to attempt to disable the ship if possible, destroy the statues if not. Given that she had, technically, signed the Articles of Service (see below) she was subject to Lorrister's justice. Adan got everything he believed possible out of her, and so she was turned over to the Prince.

She was hung off the bow of the ship. After sufficient time had passed, Lorrister simply cut the rope.

*By which we mean thrown off an airship off the coast of Argonessen with a week's supply of iron rations, two potions of healing, a short sword, a bedroll, a shortbow, and 1 arrow of dragonslaying, color randomized. As stated before, we do not mess around here at the Annandale Gaming Blog.

Where did the Dolgaunt touch you, ma'am?

2007-11-06T10:48:00.001-05:00

Welcome back to the Annandale Gaming blog. We now resume our service, and are rededicated to bringing the exploits of Kaloei, Soledyn, Amira, and Adan directly onto your computer screens. The people responsible for the long blackout have been sacked*.

Quick catchup: when last we left our heroes, they had joined Prince Lorrister in flying off to the Lhazar Principalities in order to combat the alliance of the Cloudreavers and the Diresharks which were threatening to usurp Prince Ryger, and had invested Regalport in a siege.

Of course, it's a bloody long way to Regalport and there were bound to be some adventures before then. Of course, first and foremost there were prisoners to interrogate; prisoners who didn't know they were aboard an airship. Adan adopted the guise of an old, careworn, paper-pushing Dwarven guardsman named Dirk Dirkenson, and informed the prisoners they were in the custody of the Sharn City Watch. He brought Kaloei into the bring as the assaulted citizen, and together the two spun a story for the captives of her having been assaulted by them and a Dolgaunt in concert (remember the Dolgaunt? I knew you did) which lead to Adan's classic, monotoned line, while taking notes:

"Where did the Dolgaunt touch you ma'am?"

The younger of the two prisoners...the incompetent axe-man...quickly broke down and spilled everything. His name was Sig. He was 15, not a guardsman, had never handled a weapon before, and the other captive was his uncle, a Redcloak captain, who had promised 1. He would teach Sig to be a man and 2. He would lead him to easy money. The Captain had produced the Dolgaunt. Nobody had asked how.

The Captain refused to talk, but quick consultation with Gideon (decked out visibly in armor with the Silver Flame upon it for the first time) confirmed that the other guy really was a Redcloak captain. Tossing him over the side of the airship would be a bad idea.

Ultimately, it fell out like this; Sig, the boy, elected to stay on the ship, which Lorrister allowed, so long as Adan gave his parole, and the Captain was temporarily charmed/mind-effed, stripped of his weapons and cloak, and set loose in the city. Finally the Spear of Dawn cast off. Sig was apprenticed to the cook, a goblin named "Snack" who, as far as the party could tell, had weapon focus: spatula, given the way he kept smacking Sig with it.

Now, given that the party had two names of ships believed to be carrying "statues" smuggled by Daask...the Trackless Sunrise and...some other name I can't remember.

At any rate, projected their likely course, Lorrister offered the possibility of flying to attempt to intercept them, rather than making straight for a rendezvous with the Heavenly Fleet.

So they did; on the first, they found a puffball of a crew that got mercilessly slaughtered by the Valenar elf mercs who formed one squad of the SoD's boarding party.

However, exploding out from inside the hold came an ogre mage and a flying gnoll....Cavallah and her chief Lieutenant. Battle ensued. Cavallah was defeated thanks in large part to Amira's summoning prowess, though certainly Kaloei and Soledyn and Adan all contributed; but it was the grappling of hippogriffs that brought Cavallah down to be killed. In the ship's hold? Two statues; one of a girl in mage's robes, one of a young boy in fine, expensive clothing. Huzzah!

(More updates to come this week!)

*By which we mean exiled to the Mournland with a dagger, a light crossbow with one bolt, and one full waterskin. We do not fuck around here at the Annandale Gaming Blog.

Updates Coming

2007-10-31T23:20:00.001-04:00

I promise. Really I swear. We'll catch right up to "The Siege of Regalport" any day now.

New Blog Venture

2007-08-28T00:46:00.000-04:00

http://lbamtoyreview.blogspot.com/

Yes, I collect toys. You all know that.

Plumb the depths of my mania, if you dare.

A catchphrase is born.

2007-08-27T17:45:00.000-04:00

As noted above, the party waited for their enlistment papers from Lorrister, and finally they came.

Articles of Service

I, the undersigned, hereby pledge my service in the name of Dol Arrah, Dol Dorn, and all the Sovereign Host, under the command of Prince Lorrister, to the Heavenly Fleet.

My service is to commence aboard the Spear of Dawn and will last for a period until the Prince or Captain should discharge me, or one year from this date, whichever should come first.

My pay is to be in shares of profit realized, prizes taken, and bounties earned, along with regular meals and a wine ration of 1 liter per day. Extra shares shall be awarded as the Prince, Captain, or other officers deem fitting.

With this pledge I swear the following:

1. I am not secretly serving the interests of any other power, benign or malevolent though their intent may be.

2. I am agreeing to these articles under my own free will and not under the compulsion of any force or person, magical or mundane.

3. That I will serve steadfastly and truly and obey all lawful orders rendered to me by superior officers.

4. I will keep my weapons, armor, and accoutrements clean and fit for an engagement at all times.

5. I will not show cowardice in the face of the enemy nor shirk any duty given me.

6. I will not attempt to hoard plunder, treasure, food or drink that does not rightfully belong to me.

7. That while on watch I shall remain vigilant and aware.

8. That I will not be drunk nor engaged in games of chance or dalliance while on duty.

9. That I shall not engage in duel of arms or magic against any of my crew-mates.

10. That I shall not attempt to interfere with or coerce any prudent woman I encounter, upon pain of death.

11. That if I possess the ability to grant healing either magical or mundane I shall not withhold it from any member of the crew in dire need.

12. That if I violate any of the above articles I shall be subject to the justice of the Captain’s Mast and that my punishment may include, but is not limited to; reduced rations, imprisonment, the lash, being put off the ship, or death.

At the satisfactory conclusion of my service I shall be presented with a purse of gold in an amount to be decided upon by the Prince, Captain, or other officers, and will be offered legal citizenship in the Lhazar Principalities, complete with traveling papers.

Designate next of kin or heirs to be notified in the event of death:

Signed:

Having to designate your next of kin will take ALL the fun out of joining a do-gooding voyage. Still, the party dutifully signed the papers and turned them over to the huffy gnome barrister who'd been forced to wait two hours for them to show up at the Drunken Dragon mail-drop. After settling their (rather substantial) bill, the party canceled the mail drop and moved on.

Reporting to the Spear of Dawn, the party made certain Lorrister understood just why they were joining the crew and setting out, giving him all the pertinent details about statues, Daask, House Tharashk, House Orien, etc etc. Lorrister seemed fairly willing to believe them, but had more pressing matters; he wanted them to go find his pilot, Averam Helon. As Lorrister put it, Averam Helon, his pilot, was a troubled man in need of a second chance. An excoriate of House Lyrandar, an inveterate drunk and drug addict, Averam was hired for one reason; when you need a Mark of Storm to pilot your airship, you take what you can get. The Chain of Command chart for the Spear of Dawn noted that Averam was not allowed to give orders to anyone unless they directly involved the immediate safety and air-worthiness of the ship. Furthermore, Lorrister introduced them to the new member of their squad; a Sovereign Host Priestess named Amira d'Medani; yes, another member of a Dragonmarked House (a new player! a cleric! no more nearly dying in every combat). She would accompany them to find Averam, and be integrated into their squad for all future action.

According to his most recent information, Averam was in a skeezy tavern in the Cogs known as "The Bloody Mug." Also, Lorrister issued them their livery; sky-blue tabards with the Spear of Dawn symbol (basically the Sunrise for Dol Arrah crossed by a spear) on them. They'd be expected to wear them in the future, but not just yet.

Off to the "Bloody Mug." Averam was not there, but he did leave a sizable tab behind, and maybe if that got paid the bartender might have an idea where he went next.

Fifty gold later, the bartender said Averam was making a point of hitting all his favorite haunts in his last two days in port, and was headed for a place called the "Broken Jaw." Where was it?

The dazzling multiplicity of responses to that innocuous question incited a barfight. Punches were thrown. Chairs broken. The bartender was stabbed with a broken bottle. It got ugly.

Adan did the only sensible thing, turned invisible, and left. Eventually the party followed him, after more or less breaking up the fight.

Thence to the "Broken Jaw." A ratty looking, drunken half-elf was face-down in a puddle of drool, rotgut, and perhaps a little bit of vomit on his table. The party settled his bill, told him they were leaving and to pack his stuff; Averam hefted his bottle and said, "This is my stuff," then off they went. Adan explained that they were shipping out tomorrow, to which Averam replied, with a pained groan, "Have you ever tried talking to an elemental with a hangover?"

As they walked back, Averam kept pulling at his bottle and asking if they could stop so he could score; it was going to be a long trip and he was going to need some stuff to get through it. As he said, "Have you ever tried talking to an elemental clean?" And so on. Averam's basic response to every situation was to imply that talking to the elemental that way was worse than if he had lots of drugs and booze in his system.

As the party wandered towards a dark corner of the street, they were accosted....by 5 men in red cloaks. They seemed familiar; in fact, they seemed exactly like the Redcloaks who had met them previously and been bribed. The reason for this meeting was quickly made clear; the Redcloaks were there to take care of what the Dolgaunt hadn't accomplished.

Cue the swords.

The Redcloaks were no fools, with solid tacticals; no grouping together to get hit by an area effect, ganging up, using spells to best effect, etc. Amira and Kaloei quickly got lightning-bolted by a spellcaster and things looked grim. Averam did the only sensible thing, and hunkered down in a defensive huddle (read: the fetal position) and sucked on his bottle.

Eventually, though, our heroes won the day and the Redcloaks were dispatched. It seemed, curiously, as though some of them didn't fight like Redcloaks ought to fight; instead they were incompetent, including one axe-man who was clearly not proficient with his weapon. Two definitely knew what they were about; one was captured, the other (the spellcaster, who had thrown out lightning bolt, burning hands, ray of enfeeblement, and cure spells...curious) was overwhelmed by Celestial Fire Beetles summoned by Amira. The incompetent axe-man was also taken into custody. The corpses were quickly stripped and rolled into the gutter.

Averam's bottle was empty and had to be discarded; he asked, once more, if Adan had anything, exclaiming, "You have no idea what it's like trying to talk to an elemental sober."

The party was left with questions; why were Redcloaks attacking them? Why didn't they all fight like real Redcloaks? If it had been a real Redcloak squad, the party would likely be dead. What would they do with the prisoners? What would Lorrister think of them taking prisoners? And last but not least...just how was Averam going to be capable of flying the ship?

Note: I still have two posts to catch up with the party's exploits. I will try to knock those out this week. In the meantime, read the toy blog.

Taking the Prince's Shilling (Sort of)

2007-08-27T17:44:00.000-04:00

When last we left our heroes...

...they were faced with difficult choices. Pietra had been found and she was safe for the moment, but not forever. At least three...perhaps more...of the "statues" had been shipped out in the past few days, on ships bound for the Lhazar Principalities. Duvrin was letting them stay at his place, but probably not forever. Whatever was going to happen, they were leaving Sharn, that much seemed certain. But where? To sign on the ship Prince Lorrister was refitting and taking to war? Back to Fairhaven, to report to Urik Rorham and see if more employment was in the offing?

Not to mention they had a lease to cancel, a house to empty, AND the mail cut-out at The Drunken Dragon. Adventuring is complicated.

First things first; send messages. One was sent to Urik, via House Sivis Speaking Stone. Basically it said; Pietra is found, she is safe, our involvement on the case is through, pay up.

The message that came back said: Can you arrange transport for the girl back to Fairhaven or do you need help doing so?

A message was sent to Morgana Corleis saying that they were in pursuit of her niece, and they would stay in touch. She replied that she'd do the same.

Another was sent to Constable Corleith telling him not to give up hope; they were pursuing the Captain. He didn't reply. He's far too bitter for that.

So, the next up was to investigate the allegiances, motives, means, ways, policies and devices of Prince Lorrister.

All the digging Adan and Gideon could do...speaking to former associates of his, speaking to nobles and sponsors and clergy...it seems that Lorrister is that so-rare thing in Eberron; exactly what he appears to be. Prince Lorrister is a Holy Knight of Dol Arrah who, a few years ago, decided to raise an army and sweep clean the pirates of the Lhazar Principalities. He really was gathering a crew, having found sponsors willing to put up enough cash to buy an old airship and refit it for war (or at least for scouting for war...airships can be a bit fragile). He was taking on crew, having 'auditions' at the temple of Dol Arrah in Sovereign Towers.

So the party queued up at the temple. Eventually they got inside to see the man himself, wings, cockatoo animal companion and all.

(Editor's note: this NPC is basically from the book. In the illustration, he has wings, and a cockatoo. I would not create an NPC with wings and a cockatoo).

Next to him was a massive half-orc whom he introduced as his second mate, and boarding party commander, Tavaak Half-Ear, who, it was evident by his clothes, was a priest of the Sovereign Host. The Prince indicated that the party would have to subject itself to some minor magic; Detect Evil, Zone of Truth, that sort of thing. They acquiesced, and more or less passed that part of the test. Then Lorrister wanted to know what the party was capable of, and was told they saw themselves as an asset when it came to combat, not as sailors or airmen.

In order to test the veracity of that claim, without further ado, Lorrister drew his cutlass, leaped over the table, and attacked Kaloei.

It was evident that he was just sparring. He quickly overcame Kal, but also pointed out to her that she had given the best showing so far that day. Sol was next and the result was much the same, with the Prince scoring many solid blows, and Sol scrambling around the room flinging axes, but ultimately being cornered and overcome.

When the Prince turned to Adan, Adan bowed, then cast a spell that seemed to suck all the color and substance from his own form and sent it hurtling in a bolt of color and light at the Prince's eyes, blinding him. Adan disappeared.

When the Prince recovered his sight, he told them they were accepted and where should he send the paperwork?

With much rejoicing, the party headed back towards Duvrin's house. On the way there, near a lift, they were suddenly ambushed by two gnolls, one of whom said "Cavallah says hello."

The gnolls, however, were not alone; eventually something large and ugly and tentacled joined the fight; a Dolgaunt. Dolgaunts are, for those not in the know, a creature of the Daelkyr, twisted, evil, and horrid...did I mentioned tentacled?

The dolgaunt was overcome with some difficulty, and the party was busy trussing up gnolls and heaving them over the rails when the distinctive jingle of armor and weapons approached. A squad of 5 or 6 men, all armed and armored varyingly but dressed in distinctive red cloaks, approached the party, claiming to have been out hunting the Dolgaunt. They of course thoroughly questioned the party and what was going on out there, claiming to be from the Redcloak Battalion, an elite unit of the Brelish military attached to the Sharn City Watch.

Rather than mess with the Redcloaks, Adan wisely "found" a pouch of 200 gold on the ground that, as he said, "Surely belonged to the Captain." With that out of the way, the party finally went back to Duvrin to receive...gifts!

Duvrin lavishly showed his gratitude for saving his adopted daughter, with the following presents:

Adan: Ring of the Beguiler; +2 bonus to Intelligence, grants the Spell Focus feat for Illusion school and Enchantment school spells.

Kaloei: +1 Keen Flaming Rapier

Sol: Skirmisher's Axe: +1 Returning Throwing Axe, extra 1d6 damage on a Skirmish attack.

Duvrin also pointed out that he could arrange the party a loan from the Kundarak Bank at reasonable interest, which would grant them each roughly 7,000 gold pieces with which to purchase equipment, supplies and magical goodies before shipping out on the Spear of Dawn. He also made clear that his plan was to hire several Changelings to impersonate Pietra and have them scatter in various directions, while the real one would take to the Lightning Rail with guards, headed ultimately across Karrnath for the Mror Holds.

The party awaited their enlistment papers from Lorrister while shopping and pondering this question; where would Cavallah's troops get a tame Dolgaunt?

Edit: You'll note I have been lax with the posts. Trying to catch up. One down, two to go!

Fun with Magic Items

2007-07-31T14:28:00.000-04:00

This post is akin to the "Oldest Question: Bag End Edition."

In that I statted out Bilbo Baggins and the equipment he managed to pick up on his trip. I decided I'd do more "Equipment statting" for famous weapons from literature, starting with weapons from Lord of the Rings.

Narsil: Everybody's favorite broken sword. We know it cut Sauron's hand off even after it was broken, we know it was powerful and revered enough to be passed down as an heirloom of the Dunedain (bonus points if anyone can name another). So what would be it's D&D statistics? I see it as nearly artifact level but NOT QUITE...not yet. I also figure it's the kind of weapon that is clearly tied to a bloodline- the Dunedain, the Numenoreans. So in anyone's hands:

+1 Bastard Sword. Bestows a negative level (maybe)

In the hands of a man of the right line:

+5 Outsider-Bane Holy Bastard Sword (can it be Outsider bane? That's what Sauron is, technically...). I'm not sure about this. I'll take suggestions.

Anduril - Best. Sword. Ever. Seriously; it's got the coolest name AND the coolest translation, "Flame of the West." I think when it is reforged by the Elven-smiths of Rivendell it acquires 'artifact' status. So here's my guess;

+6 Holy Vorpal Orcbane Bastard Sword of Flame - Probably also bestows powers of command upon wielder and radiates courage effects. Unlike the film version of Anduril, it does not bestow the power to command the Army of the Dead; that is all Aragorn, baby. As for vorpal, well in both book and film Aragorn takes many heads. I think Orcbane makes sense because there's so bloody many of them. And Flame? Well it IS called "Flame of the West." Also- you can take your +12 Hackmaster and shove it, cuz that's like a +14 weapon right there. Word.

Aiglos - The spear of Gil-Galad. Name in Elvish means "icicle," and was so called because apparently foes who saw it knew it meant "cold death." God, Tolkien had a grand style. Nobody else can even touch that and make it sound more than foolish, but for him, it works. As for the numbers:
+5 Icy Burst Orcbane Longspear - On a side note, I've seen in person the "prop" Aiglos at an exhibit in Boston of many of the original costumes, prop sets, and weapons from the films. It's a shame it didn't get more screen time; Gil-Galad's regalia was the most beautiful stuff there, and yet he gets a total of about 6 seconds of screen time, and is not actually named. That also shows why those movies were so brilliant; no detail was spared attention. For example, Theoden's armor (which I was sorely tempted to steal, don, and then see how far I could get from the door with till security shot me down) had horse motifs on the leather embroidered inside, where no camera would ever possibly see it. Apparently Bernard Hill commented on this in wonderment and was told, "Well..that's what the smiths and craftsmen would've done for their King's armor."

Anyway, there's a sampling. Feel free to quibble or add your own.

Session IX - The Big Reveal

2007-07-22T23:28:00.000-04:00

With the side quest settled, the party regrouped and gathered back at the pad they'd rented. They also wanted to check up on whether Iyerke d'Tharashk had shown himself in Sharn, as they'd heard he might have.

Quick note; Aga, the orc fighter, decided she'd seen enough unnatural stuff and left. Similarly, Cyria left in the middle of the night, with a note saying that a life of adventure was not what she'd hoped it would be.

Gideon, resident Inquisitive, had been tasked with checking that out. He had learned a few things.

1. Iyerke was in town.
2. He was probably at one of the Tharashk enclaves, which were basically 4 separate Inquisitive's offices run by the house.
3. He refused to use pseudonyms.
4. He was considered something of a rising star in the house, a bit of a Dragonmarked prodigy, and expected to do great things.
5. The nearest Inquisitive's Office to Holdfast- the dwarven neighborhood where Duvrin lives- is Kurt Kundar'Ashta's.

Meanwhile, a message came (through their cut-out at The Drunken Dragon) that Morgrave University had hired some professional Inquisitives who wished to interview the party about the killings that occurred there (Oleg, ogre, flind #1).

It was decided that Kaloei would head to talk to the Inquisitives at Morgrave, and Adan would go check out Kundar'ashta's, trying to see if Iyerke was there. Kaloei would go alone while Gideon and Sol would flank Adan in case things got rough.

Kaloei went and interviewed with a human male named Sigor, who said he was there from...Kurt Kundar'Ashta's agency, hired to make a full report to the Sharn City Watch. He asked many questions, trying to trip her up, especially about the fact that they dragged one still living Flind out and left him bound in an alley. Kaloei's keen senses detected that Sigor knew the answers to questions he was asking, especially questions about Daask and Cavallah. Eventually the interview ended and Kaloei was free to go, but Sigor asked if she would make sure that her companions came to see him as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Adan went to Kurt Kundar'Ashta's and met the proprietor, claiming to be carrying a message for Iyerke d'Tharashk, who might be found here. Kurt offered to take it for him and deliver it, but Adan demurred. He insisted (with a bluff check) that if Kurt touched a paper while he (Adan) cast an Arcane Mark, it would prove that he had attempted to deliver it and was unsuccessful, and would be able to collect some, if not all, of his fee. Kurt smelt a rat. He said he'd get his retained arcanist out front to doublecheck what spell was being cast. A kobold came hopping out- the retained "Arcanist," apparently. He and Kurt (who was, btw, human) jabbered at each other a bit in Orcish. Adan deliberately didn't cast a spell and claimed it had fizzled for some reason, and he'd try again.

Kurt snatched the paper and flipped it open. Adan reacted quickly and cast Blinding Color-Surge, a great spell which blinded Kurt and made him (Adan) invisible for a few rounds- enough to get out of the door and several hundred feet away. Sol and Gideon were comfortable enough with Adan to know that a swinging door, a gust of wind, and a jabbering kobold coming stomping after was enough to know they should just melt away.

Everyone reconvened at the house and Adan was (slowly) talked into going to see the Inquisitives at Morgrave. As Gideon said, "Worst comes to worst, we'll just beat him senseless and get you out of there." Adan, after all, had just been at Kundar'Ashta's, albeit in disguise; he was very afraid of being made. Gideon was told to stake out Kundar'Ashta's place; he'd demurred from following him because, as he said, "Kundar'ashta's better than me, and if I try to follow him, he'll make me. Staking out his place, I'll have a chance, but not following him."

At any rate, when Adan walked in the room, he knew it was a setup- he knew the man set to interview him. Sigor d'Deneith, one of Adan's old compatriots in the Sentinel Eyes- a unit of Deneith spies formed near the end of the Last War, because Deneith was tired of buying information from Phiarlan, Thuranni, or one of the national intelligence services. They'd been headquartered in Metrol, so needless to say, there weren't many Sentinel Eyes left.

Adan immediately turned to walk out of the room but Sigor begged for him to listen. Adan told him he had 30 seconds. Sigor's spiel went something like this;

"Adan, listen; the people you're with, they're dangerous. That elf, the Aereni...he's got an Aberrant Mark. And you don't understand what Aberrant Marks mean. They're dangerous. Those who have them are twisted, cursed; most of the governments knew this. So did Phiarlan; that's why they keep lists, Adan. Lists. They monitor them. But now there are those smart enough to try and gather them and control them. This comes from top people in our House, Adan. Top people. You can join us. I'll cut you in. You can walk right in and join with us, they'll take you. You have to trust me."

Adan's answer was; your house. Not mine.

And he left. And he kept walking, and was planning to just leave, period. To just get on a slow boat to Zilargo and leave Sharn behind.

Then, as they were leaving the University District, Gideon intercepted them;

"I was watching Kundar'Ashta's place and they..Iyerke, and flunkies...showed up with a girl, a half-elf. I think it was Pietra. They got her while you were away."

Adan was faced with an immediate decision; run, or go try and rescue Pietra. His original commission was to find Agate Corleis, and he reasoned she might very well be wherever Pietra was.

On they went to Kundar'Astha's. Iyerke, with four flunkies and Sigor, were leaving, carrying two large crates. Time to throw down.

It was a tough battle; Adan was gut shot and knocked out in the first round. Same happened to Gideon and Kaloei; Iyerke is a brilliant archer and he was on the money tonight.

Also, Iyerke was strangely hard to hurt, as no weapons but Kaloei's really inflicted harm. Sol and Gideon's weapons mostly bounced off of him.

The flunkies were brought quickly under control; Sol's dog and Adan brought down Sigor (Adan and Gideon were both brought back into the fight by Kaloei's cunning use of Cure Light Wounds). It was a near run thing; eventually, Iyerke was a mere 3 hp from being out of the fight, as Adan had hit him with a severe non-lethal damage fatigue spell. He turned and started to bolt for the edge of the platform the district was on, intent on simply leaping off; Kaloei speared him through the gut and dropped him.

Adan wisely suggested they quickly get inside and they did. Inside one crate were several boxes of dragonshards; inside the other was an unconscious half-elven girl. When they let her out, ungagged her, she immediately attempted to burn Iyerke to death, with some sort of fire-based spell-like ability.

They packed Sigor into a crate, and Adan went out and bribed a passing sky-cab to not ask any questions as they carted the whole lot to Holdfast, and Duvrin's house.

They got there. The cabbie said nothing. Pietra was thrilled to be home; Duvrin was happy to see them and greatly indebted. But Duvrin had business. Iyerke and Sigor were quickly stripped and lead downstairs and strapped into chairs. Torches were lit. Feet were put into stocks. Gideon, Sol, and Kaloei went upstairs to the "club room" to have a drink with Reeve, the warforged bodyguard. Duvirn's staff artificer was set to work looking at the various plunder.

Sigor sang like a canary. Iyerke proved harder to break. Sigor claimed that he was hired out from top people in Deneith; that he knew they were snatching people off the various lists the governments and Dragonmarked houses had maintained- which first meant snatching the lists- of Aberrant Dragonmarked folk. He knew Daask was providing muscle and the war in Lhazar was involved; once properly broken, that's where the Aberrants were headed. For use in a war.

Eventually Adan charmed Iyerke, and got almost the entire story, or as much as he knew.

1. They had targeted Kaloei because her father was in charge of Phiarlan's "list," and they wanted to try to get at him for it; they suspected it was more complete than many others.
2. He was serving the particular interest of Baron Zharask Kundar'Ashta, one of the Tharashk Triumvirate.
3. This was big; bigger than he knew. "Layers within layers," he said.
4. Lhazar was connected. The war there was a part of this.
5. Master Sculptor Haradeen was dead; had been for 2 years. He'd been replaced by a medusa and a changeling playing his part.
6. There were other medusae in Sharn, playing the same role; turning captives to stone for easier shipping.
7. Several statues had gone out on a ship to Lhazar just a few hours prior.
8. Daask was not making jewelry. They were making collars; with the right bonded pairs of Siberys shards, those with Aberrant Dragonmarks could be made to serve the whim of another. Daask was involved, too, though perhaps just as muscle.
9. The Dragonshards Daask was working with dated to the War of the Mark; they'd been used by King Tarkanan's people.
10. Deneith was definitely involved, though not the House as a whole, just select elements.

Adan was shaken to his core; eventually he revealed his background...and the growing Siberys dragonmark on his body...to the party.

Duvrin told his story; he'd been a loyal citizen of Breland and a member of the Dark Lanterns of the King's Citadel, a part of a special unit of Aberrant Dragonmarked agents. Eventually the King shut down the unit, and his advisers tried to have them all killed. Duvrin and several others got away. As he said, "After spending 60 years slowly dying for King and Country only to be tossed aside because I was 'dangerous,' I couldn't stomach living in Breland." He went to Aundair with a comrade; one of Pietra's parents.

Their family's boat burned when Pietra manifested her Dragonmark, as she slept and dreamed. He had saved her, but couldn't save her parents. He brought her to Sharn, because he knew others of his kind were there- but that was all he would say of those former comrades.

This was all quite a blow to Kaloei, who'd learned all her life that those with Aberrant...or, as Duvrin suggested, "non-standard" Dragonmarks were monsters. Now to know that they were being hunted...to be used in a war...she couldn't think even they deserved that.

Adan, for his part, said he'd seen firsthand what war meant, that he'd lost too much to it, and even if he'd felt he'd long since cut all ties to House Deneith, he couldn't stand to think that their noble traditions were being perverted...especially to start another war.

The party is not quite sure what to do; perhaps follow the statues, perhaps guide Pietra to safety. Duvrin says they need to help him decide, but he will back their play; he can send Pietra to "the ancestral homeland," as it were, the Mror Holds, where Tharashk will not come get her, and that he can hire changelings to play her part in Sharn, as well as other places to create false leads.

But what the party does next is undecided; should they wish to return to Aundair to report to Urik Rorham, he will see to it. If they want to go to Lhazar, Prince Lorrister managed to find enough sponsors to have an old airship refitted and crewed, and is looking to hire hands and mercenaries, and it would be a ride there.

To dig deeper and see where the threads lead? To stop a war, perhaps? Or to protect the life of an innocent girl, cursed with a power she never asked for, until she is somewhere safe? That is the decision the party faces.

Session VIII- A Bit of Side Business (Or IS it....)

2007-07-19T22:50:00.000-04:00

Sure, this post is way late, but too bad for both of you who read it.

This session picked up back in the Daask dungeons, where the party faced the task of dragging 3 wizards and an unconscious ogre graduate student (I've been that guy. And I mean that literally. Though usually not from being tortured, but from making martinis with Sapphire and moonshine)

Annnnyway- they managed to revive them enough to get them out of the dungeon and eventually out of the Cogs, though a poor goblin butcher paid for noticing them by catching an axe to the face.

On Adan's suggestion, rather than take the wizards back to Morgrave...or to The Drunken Dragon, where they'd been staying, or The Broken Tailfeather, they decided to move up in the world, quite literally, and rent a house- a very expensive house- up in the Floating Towers. For 86 gold a month, plus an 86 gp deposit, they rented a tower on the fringes of a swanky top side district, and dragged everyone there. The idea was to keep the wizards there until they could determine if Daask was still looking for them at Morgrave. Simultaneously, they'd keep their rooms at The Drunken Dragon and use the place as a messenger cut-out, occasionally sending runners to collect their mail.

They also got some more from the wizards; they had the halfling, Mungo, an alchemical specialist, working on more potent versions of the narcotic known as Dragonblood. The other two were mostly tasked with working with the ancient Siberys Dragonshards Daask had acquired- these were the Shards that got the wizards in trouble in the first place. Daask wanted the shards activated, and bound into some silver jewelery they had; nothing too showy, just large. Maybe giant-sized bracelets or earrings. Daask is full of giants, after all.

When collecting their messages, Soledyn gets a message that the Aereni consul wishes to meet him him. A dutiful soldier (sort of) Sol heads off for the meeting where he learns a few interesting tidbits. Though the major governments of Khorvaire have attempted to suppress news of it (and been rather successful at doing so) there was an assault...and a breakout...at Dreadhold up in the Lhazar Principalities. Dreadhold, for those not in the know, is where the worst criminals of Khorvaire are kept, including those convicted of war crimes from the Last War by the Tribunal of Thronehold.

Seems it was mostly war criminals who got sprung, too; no wonder the governments were suppressing this news.

But, to the point; one war criminal in particular was, according to credible sources, believed to be in Sharn. His name was Wultram Kessler, and he'd been a Karrnathi Commander. While the Karrnathi corpse collectors had widely collected both their own fallen and the enemy fallen in order to create undead. Kessler, though, several times, rounded up all the able-bodied adults in a town, village, or section of a city under his command, executed them, and turned them into undead. The Deathguard had dispatched one of its operatives in Sharn, an elf named Elinthanar, to look into the rumors. He hadn't reported back for over three days.

Sol's job was, first, to find Elinthanar. Second, was to bring in Kessler. It was made clear that Kessler was not wanted alive.

Where to start looking? Graywalls is the Karrnathi district, and where worshippers of the Blood of Vol are most likely to congregate, so they started there. The Hazal Manor and family are the center of the district, but Lord Hazal is out of town and the place is mysteriously closed up. Sol wants to get in and look around; eventually they just hop a fence and bust open a door. Well, carefully pry.

Once inside...the place is empty. Full of dust. No staff. Spoooooky.

Eventually they find a locked pantry door in the kitchen and some footprints. The locked pantry door is trapped- with a magic trap that'll cast Enervation. (Side note: I once killed a PC by critting with an Enervation trap. Nasty stuff).

They can't find a way through the trap so eventually they decide to try the second level of the house, and there are footprints going upstairs; several different humanoid tracks, and some quadrupedal. Upstairs they find a maid in livery, tied and gagged in her closet. Ungagging her, she tells them that a new priest arrived recently, and since the Master left, has been taking and killing the staff and townsfolk and turning them into undead. Meanwhile, one of the former townsfolk...now a zombie...comes tromping up the stairs. It is quickly slain, and the party flees with the girl.

Once safe, she tells them there are tunnels all over the town that allow secret access to the temple hidden beneath the manor. So they go to a local restaurant, Slogar's, and Papa Slogar gets some borscht and brown bread and other such stout Karrnathi peasant fare into the poor girl, and says yes, he has a tunnel and yes, they may use it. Won't they have some borscht first? Papa Slogar loves him some borscht, and he loves feeding it to people.

Anyway, they use the tunnel. The first thing they encounter is an enormous hound...wounded, crouched over a silver dagger (with Deathguard sigil on the pommel). Sol is able to calm the hound, and heal it, and the hound seizes his sleeve and drags him towards the end of the tunnel.

The tunnel opens into a temple, wherein wait 4 undead and a priest in red-enameled half-plate, with an elven corpse, exsanguinated and stretched across the altar. Combat ensues, and after a tough battle (which Adan owned, by silencing the priest and then blinding him) and though it is tough, the party prevails...along with the help of the hound.

The party collected the loot, licked its wounds and gathered the corpses. The hound followed willingly as they went back to the Aerenal Embassy and reported success, turned in Kessler's body, collected a bounty. The hound decided to stay with Sol (animal companion- check!) and the Consul let him keep the dagger (+1 Silver Dagger, Detect Undead 3/day)

That was that- there is an unresolved issue given that Sol wanted to simply burn down the Temple of the Blood of Vol. Adan was against it. We shall have to timesplice and retcon in two weeks when both players are once again in attendance, as Sol's player couldn't make it this week.

Top 10 Rejected Recruiting Slogans for the Cults of the Dragon Below

2007-07-12T21:39:00.001-04:00

Another incomplete top 10 list for ya'll to finish!

Because I'm lazy!

Because I'm tired!

Because Top 5 Lists are lame!

Because maybe I'm drunk! Who really knows?

So, here they are- the top 10 rejected recruiting slogans for the Cults of the Dragon Below

10. Squando rabbit hodge lyre floo green being is! (they're a Cult of Chaos, remember)
9. Because Cthulhu will eat you; we only might eat you.
8. Daelkyr Food: Now with extra screaming.
7. More speaking in tongues than the Silver Flame!
6. Favored Weapon: Heavy Pick! (Of course it makes no sense!)
5. Ritual Scarification: fun for the whole family.
4.
3.
2.
1. Once you go Breed Leech, you never go back!

As with the last one, go ahead and fill in numbers 4, 3, and 2!

Time for a Bard Joke!

2007-07-10T23:29:00.000-04:00

There's been a dearth of good bard jokes lately. I've tried to come up with some "So a bard walks into a bar" jokes but can't quite get them right. How about this one:

Top 10 Things Real Adventurers Say to Bards While Recruiting at the Tavern:

10. Just leave the pitcher.
9. Do you have my change?
8. How many ranks do you have in Profession: Bootblack?
7. I left your money on the dresser.
6. Sorry, your body weight will put me over a medium load.
5. Ok, enough with the lute; demonstrate your torch grip.
4.
3.
2.
1. Next!

Okay, so that's only 7. Submit your own! Fun for the whole family.

Editor's Note: This post not approved by the official fiance of the DM.

Session VII - Into the Cogs

2007-07-10T20:40:00.000-04:00

This session picked up immediately on the heels of the last; the party had just finished a fight with two Flinds and an Ogre; Kaloei had been brought to the brink of death, and Professor Oleg was limp against the wall. Cyria immediately attended to Kaloei; Oleg was quickly found to be beyond help.

Adan, wisely, suggested that they get quickly out of the University, and that they take the still-living Flind with them.

One well executed good cop/bad cop routine later (they're learning!) and the Flind cracked like a nut. I believe the line that did it (from Adan) was "let's tie a rock to this dog and dump him over the platform. We don't have time for this." He told them the following; he worked for Cavallah, they had been sent to scare and capture Oleg, not kill him- that the Ogre had been a fool and if they let him go and he went back to Cavallah, she'd kill him anyway, so he had no reason to betray them. Further; Daask still had the three professors they took. They weren't dead. They were being made to work.

So they compromised; they left him tied up and gagged, but alive, in an alley in the university district.

Off to their meeting with Gideon back at The Broken Tailfeather. He didn't have much more to tell them; he believed that the Pietra they were looking for was in Sharn, probably with Duvrin in Holdfast (or at least Duvrin knew where she was). He had been there and not seen her, but had heard from some of Duvrin's men that they'd seen more half-orcs than usual in their neighborhood, but weren't sure what it portended. Further, Gideon could attest that, while Duvrin's house looked normal, it was built like a fortress, made to withstand much more than your average dwarvish house.

He also gave them a little more about Cavallah, but not much more than they already had; place to investigate was Shaumakar, the bar/restaurant/butcher shop/slaughterhouse that caters to monsterfolk from Droam- and that Daask was the source for Dragon's Blood- the new, extremely dangerous drug that was flooding into Sharn. They let on a little of what they'd heard- mostly that Daask was keeping some hostages, probably down in the Cogs. Gideon offered his services on a rescue attempt- and also offered to bring in more muscle, which he did, in the 6'6 form of Aga, a female Orc weaponsmith who bashed faces as a sideline, who held a grudge against Daask for running a protection racket on the shop she worked at.

So Adan, Kaloei, Cyria, Soledyn, Gideon, and Aga all headed down to the Cogs and to Shaumakar. Adan disguised himself as a hobgoblin and entered with Aga, who began a lengthy and toothsome negotiation for freshly butchered pig's feet and snouts. With a distraction thus provided, Adan was able to case the joint- though eventually he had to come back in with an "Invisibility" spell and head into the currently closed bar. Note- it was currently about 8 a.m., which is just a bit after last call down in the Cogs. There was talk among the goblin butchers of "the big doings" that night, and they were certainly working overtime getting ready.

Eventually Adan found his way past the bar cage (the entire bar itself was inside a cage, with slots to pass drinks through- all the furniture was bolted to the floor or carved out of the stone walls) and into the cellar; once inside the cellar he found a mash tun that smelled foul, but didn't appear to really be in heavy use. He investigated closer and found a false bottom/secret door. He collected the party and down they went.

Beyond was a ladder leading down to a stone tunnel, and a door. The door was locked, and trapped, but the trap but was merely an alarm bell. Adan and Gideon managed to disable it and down went the door, much to the chagrin of a pair of Gnoll guardsmen. Aga, Sol, Gideon and Kaloei quickly set about dispatching them, though one buggered off with a yell. The party found themselves in a room with 4 tunnels leading away (besides the one they came through); two up, one each right and left. They decided to take a defensive position inside the nearest tunnel 'up.'

This bunched them up nicely for when, a few moments later, a large blue creature appeared behind them, with visible waves of cold emanating from his hand. That'd be an Ogre mage unloading a cone of cold.

The fight was on. The Ogre Mage was cowardly and elusive- they always are, if you ask me. Eventually the Ogre Mage was driven off, but the Gnoll showed up with reinforcements (Goblins) bearing weapons made by Aga (what she'd really come for). Eventually the party managed to dispatch all of them and forced the retreating, flying Ogre Mage to turn to his gaseous form and float through the door in the tunnel to their left. Eventually they followed him in there (a black bear from Summon Monster II smashing the door down on the way...gotta love summoned creatures that can be sacrificed with absolutely zero guilt) and found him in a work room/laboratory containing one long desk full of alchemical equipment, and two others in the corners with other implements, with three soiled, delirious wizards chained to them. The O.M. was about to cut one in half with his greatsword, but missed to due to being "blinded" from an earlier "Glitterdust" spell of Adan's. (Great spell, btw).

The fight was on...again. Eventually the Ogre Mage was disabled, but before the party could attempt to capture him...as Adan pointed out, you can't capture something that can turn to gaseous form at will, not really...Gideon settled the question by applying the coup de grace. The wizards were, as stated, delirious, poorly fed, sick, and the poor halfling was still working at the alchemist's equipment with trembling hands. Aga thoughtfully offered him a fresh pig snout, upon which he promptly and lavishly vomited.

The one wizard who still seemed to have his wits...Cassini...told them two things, quickly. One, there were papers just tossed into the fireplace on the wall, and two, press the fender, because it would open into a secret chamber with another prisoner.

Kaloei quickly snatched a paper; Adan found the secret door. Behind the door was a professionally tortured Karg, who promptly collapsed (being kept at a steady -1, 0, 1 hp range for several hours will do that to even the hardiest young ogre).

The one paper saved from the fireplace read:

Decorative pieces successfully moved. Are the stones ready yet? We eagerly await them, as do the lucky folk they are meant for. Our man says he is close to finding the right girl. He expects to have her in our care by tomorrow.

(There was no seal, only a large and ornate L as a signature).

The party also found quite a treasure haul:
Coin:
3789 cp. that's right. COPPER.
678 gp

Gems and Object d'art:
brass mug with jade inlay
eyepatch, with mock eye of sapphire and moonstone
silver comb with mother of pearl inlay
black pearl earring (1)
star saphire

Magic Items:
3 scrolls
5 potions
1 wand
1 pair heavy leather gloves
1 set full plate armor
1 composite longbow
1 necklace

There were also some mundane items (two MW weapons Aga had made), but this party is getting to the point where they don't need to pick up the mundane items.

GM's note: This party ought to kiss my percentile dice once they get the stuff identified. That treasure was random, based on the Ogre mage, and one 4th and one 5th level Gnoll.

GM's note #2: How awesome is the Ogre Mage as a monster? It's a credible threat; lots of evasive abilities, some charm, some sleep, cone of cold, significant melee damage, SR. And, as Adan pointed out, my favorite part; they cannot be captured. How do you "use rope" on something that can turn into gaseous form at will? I cannot say enough good things about the Ogre Mage, but I've found that if you google "Ogre Mage" you find lots of people bitching that they don't "make any sense" and reworking them in many complicated ways. Ain't broke. Don't need fixin'. Great monster. What's wrong with it?

Combat Primer 5, Son of Combat Primer

2007-07-07T22:48:00.000-04:00

What are attacks of opportunity all about?

An Attack of Opportunity is an attack a creature can make when an enemy it threatens lowers its guard for some reason. Attacks of Opportunity are one of the more complicated aspects of d20 gaming, but they make a lot of sense and add a great deal of excitement to combat. To understand AoO’s you need to know

-What is a threatened space?

-What provokes an AoO?

-How do I make an AoO?

A) What is a threatened space?
A creature wielding a melee weapon with which they are proficient threatens all adjacent spaces. Some weapons increase the area a wielder threatens, and some large creatures have reach, that is, they naturally threaten a larger area. You do not threaten anything that you cannot see clearly, such as an invisible creature, or one with cover or concealment.

B) What provokes an AoO?
Taking an action that requires intense focus can lower your defenses to the point that a canny enemy may take a moment to attack you, even though it’s not their turn. This is known as provoking an AoO. The most common actions that provoke AoO’s are spellcasting, attacking with a ranged weapon, moving, and using certain items.

-Spellcasting provokes AoO’s, and if the attack is successful the Concentration check to keep the spell is based on the damage of the attack. A spellcaster may attempt to remain aware of threats while casting by casting on the defensive. This requires a concentration check (DC 15 + spell level) to keep the spell, but regardless of the check, no AoO is provoked.

-Making a ranged attack provokes AoO’s, though the AoO does not affect the ranged attack unless it drops the ranged attacker. It is thus advisable for ranged attackers to keep a melee-based ally between them and tough opponents.

-Moving often provokes AoO’s. When you leave a threatened square, the opponent may make an AoO, and the attack is resolved before you actually leave the square. Thus a combatant who is skilled at tripping his foes can control the battlefield with extreme prejudice. There are two common ways to avoid AoO’s when roving the battlefield: the space you leave when making a 5-foot step and the first space you leave when making a withdraw action are not considered threatened. Also see the Spring Attack feat.

-Using items that are complicated or take your focus off the battlefield can provoke AoO’s. Retrieving a stored item, drinking a potion or reading a spell from a scroll are the most common item-related actions that might cause you to draw an AoO on the battlefield.

-There are many other miscellaneous ways to provoke an AoO, such as delivering a coup de grace or lighting a torch. There’s a longer (but once again not comprehensive) list on p.141 of the PH.

C) How do I make an AoO?
An AoO is quite simply an attack you can make (but don’t have to!) when a creature you threaten performs one of the actions described above. You use your highest base attack bonus and all relevant modifiers. By default, creatures are allowed only one AoO per round. That is, once you’ve made one, you can’t make another until after your next turn. Note that the Combat Reflexes feat allows you to make extra AoO’s. Note also that it sometimes makes sense to provoke an AoO on purpose (to absorb one before a weaker party member provokes) or to hold off on taking one you’re entitled to (so that you can whack a weaker foe who exposes themselves).

Combat Primer 4, Bride of Combat Primer

2007-07-07T20:01:00.000-04:00

What’s involved in casting a spell?

In order to cast a spell you must

-Have all the components

-Have one free hand

-Spend the required time

-Maintain concentration

-Have a valid target

A) What are the components of a spell?
Every spell has certain components noted in its description in the PH. Possible components are

-M for Material. These are objects of esoterica that you must manipulate to cast certain spell. They are consumed upon completion (successful or no) of the casting. The vast majority have negligible costs. All spellcasters are assumed to carry a spell component pouch that contains all of these bits of fluff, and to stock it in their “off-camera” time. Some spells, such as raise dead, have specific, costly material components called out in their descriptions. These must be specifically obtained and noted on your sheet, and are consumed just like inexpensive components.

-V for Verbal. These are words or phrases of power and mystery. A caster must be able to speak or sing in a clear, audible voice to cast a spell with a verbal component, they may not mumble or whisper, and cannot use such spells in the area of a silence spell. A deafened caster has a 20% chance of failure when casting a spell with verbal components. All bard spells have a verbal component.

-S for Somatic. These are gestures and movements of magical import. A caster must be able to gesture freely to cast these spells, and may not do so while grappling or bound. Arcane (but not divine) spellcasters wearing armor are subject to spell failure, a percentage chance to lose a cast spell with no effect. Each type of armor has its own ASF percentage, listed on p.123 of the PH. The ASF percentages from wearing armor and carrying a shield stack.

-F for Focus. These are very much the same as material components with the notable exception that they are not consumed in the casting of the spell. Further, most foci (though not all) have a listed cost and must be expressly obtained.

-D for Divine Focus. These are exactly the same as regular foci, save that they are only used by divine spellcasters, and they are not specific to individual spells. Clerics and paladins use their holy symbol as their divine focus, and druids and rangers typically use a sprig of holly or mistletoe.

-XP for Experience Points. The occasional spell of great power requires the caster to expend personal essence in the form of experience points. The spell may not be cast if the loss of XP would cause the caster to lose a level. Just like material components, XP are consumed in the casting of a spell, regardless of success or failure.

B) What do I need a free hand for?
A free hand is required to manipulate material components and foci and to gesture somatically. If your spell has no M, F, DF or S components you don’t need a free hand!

C) What’s the time required to cast a spell?
Most spells require only a standard action to cast. Many spells require a full-round action. Some have casting times of 1 round or longer, and are thus subject to special scrutiny. Any spell that takes 1 round or longer to cast (most notably, all the summon spells) doesn’t take effect until the beginning of your turn after you have spent the requisite number of rounds (or minutes or sometimes even hours) using full-round actions to cast the spell. You may take a move action on your turn and begin casting a 1 round+ casting time spell, but you forfeit a move action on your turn when the spell takes effect. Any time you spend your turn using a full-round action you are entitled to a 5-foot step.

D) How do I maintain concentration?
Usually you don’t have to worry about this, you just declare your spell cast and you’re done. However, certain circumstances, such as rough weather, violent motion, or (most commonly) getting attacked can force you to make a Concentration skill check. The conditions and DC’s for making this check are on p.69 of the PH in the Concentration skill description. Should you ever fail a Concentration check, you simply lose the spell to no effect.

E) What’s a valid target?
Each spell description will tell you what you can target with that spell, be it yourself, a number of creatures, or simply an area. If upon completion of your spell there are no valid targets, you lose the spell to no effect. (This is usually only a concern regarding spells with long casting times.)

Combat Primer 3, The Reckoning

2007-07-07T19:07:00.000-04:00

How can I move?

The standard methods of tactical movement (we’ll learn about flying later!) are as follows

-Take a move action to move your speed

-Take a full-round action to run

-Take a full-round action to withdraw

-Take a 5-foot step along with other actions

A) What’s involved in moving my speed?
This is the most basic way to move on the battlefield. As a move action, you can move a number of feet up to your speed. You may move through spaces occupied by friends, but not enemies. You need not move in a straight line. Note that some spaces are treated as rough terrain, such as an area filled with rubble or fallen trees. You move at half speed through these spaces.

B) What’s involved in running?
If you take a full-round action, you may move in a straight line up to 4 times your normal speed. In heavy armor or while carrying a heavy load you only run at 3 times normal. You may not run through difficult terrain. You lose your Dexterity bonus (and thus also all dodge bonuses) to AC while running.

C) What’s involved in withdrawing?
If you take a full-round action to withdraw, you may move twice your speed this turn, just as though you had taken two move actions to move and then move again. Notably, however, when you withdraw, the first square of your movement is not considered threatened by any enemies that you can see. Thus, you can avoid some attacks of opportunity.
*Special note: If you are restricted to only making standard actions or move actions, such as during a surprise round or from the effects of a slow spell, you may still withdraw. When making a restricted withdrawal, however, you may only move up to your speed, not double.

D) What’s involved in a 5-foot step?
You get a 5-foot step in any turn that you make no other movement. If you take a 5-foot step, you cannot use an action to move later in your turn. If you’ve used an action to move this turn, you cannot later take a 5-foot step. You cannot take a 5-foot step into difficult terrain. When you do get one, you can take a 5-foot step at any time during your turn, even between attacks during a full attack. Taking a 5-foot step does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Combat Primer Returns

2007-07-07T18:31:00.000-04:00

How can I make an attack?

There are three basic ways to get an attack. (There are actually many more, but they are special cases we needn’t concern ourselves with here.)

-Use a standard action to make a single attack

-Use a full-round action to charge

-Use a full-round action to make a full attack

A) What’s involved in a single attack?
When you use a standard action to make an attack, you swing your sword (or claw, or shoot your bow, etc.) one time. You use your highest base attack bonus, and apply any pertinent bonuses (like your strength bonus with melee weapons) or penalties (like -4 for firing into melee). That’s it. You may also take a move action that turn, either before or after your standard action. If you don’t use your move action for actual movement, you may also take a 5-foot step at any time during your turn.

B) What’s involved in a charge?
When you use a full-round action to charge, you may move up to twice your speed and make a single attack at the end of that movement. You get a +2 on the attack roll from the momentum and you take a -2 to AC until your next turn because charging is reckless.
Movement during a charge is tightly restricted.
The movement may not

-Go over any obstacles

-Through any rough terrain,

-Through spaces occupied by allies.

You must move

-In a straight line

-At least 10 feet

-To the nearest space from which you can attack the enemy of your choice.

*Special note: If you are restricted to only making standard actions or move actions, such as during a surprise round or from the effects of a slow spell, you may still charge. When making a restricted charge, however, you may only move up to your speed, not double.

C) What’s involved in a full attack?
When you use a full-round action to take a full attack, you get all the attacks you are entitled to, such as from using multiple weapons, having a high base attack bonus or from the effects of a haste spell. You may take a single 5-foot step any time during your turn, even between attacks in the sequence. You choose who to target with successive attacks after seeing the results of prior attacks. For example, if Sol can throw two axes in a full attack, he may throw the first one at Bob the Goblin. If that attack puts Bob down, Sol may throw his other ax at Fred the Goblin. If the attack does not put Bob down, Sol may throw the second ax at Bob or Fred, at his option.

Combat Primer, the Beginning

2007-07-07T18:24:00.000-04:00

Hey dudes, here are some combat rules basics. Though it's true some lines are snipped more or less right out of the PH, I tried to phrase things more plainly. Furthermore, most of this information is spread around all over the damn place. I hope you all find it useful to have it in one place.

What can I do in my turn?

On your turn in one round (which is meant to model about 6 seconds of real time) you can do any of the following

-Take one move action AND one standard action

-Take two move actions

-Take one full-round action

*Special note: on your turn you can always take one swift action and as many free actions as the DM sees fit (usually as many as you want)

*Second special note: any turn in which you do not move with one of your actions you may take a five-foot step

A) What can I do in a move action?
Think of a move action as something that takes some time, but not much effort. Moving a short way, pulling something out of a storage device or standing up off the ground; these are all move actions.

B) What can I do in a standard action?
Think of a standard action as something that takes a little time and a bit of concentration. Making a single attack, drinking a potion and casting most spells are standard actions.

C) What can I do in a full-round action?
A full-round action is something that requires several seconds of intense concentration to achieve. Making a full attack, charging and using most skills are full-round actions.

D) What can I do in a free/swift action?
A free action is something that can be accomplished with little to time or effort, or can be combined with another action. Dropping a held item, speaking a short phrase and ceasing to concentrate on a spell are all free actions. The only difference between a free and a swift action is that you only get one swift action, such as casting a quickened spell, per turn.

E) When do I get a 5-foot step?
In any turn in which you do not use any of your actions for movement you may take a 5-foot step. You may take the step at any time you like, such as between attacks in a full attack, or before or after casting a spell or drinking a potion.

2007-07-07T10:43:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Sharn, Part II (note; this post is untitled because the weird, archaic web browser at Kaloei's player's parents' house will simply not let me select the "title" box and type in it. The cursor slides right past it. Joy).

Welcome to Sharn Part II

The party decided to return to The Drunken Dragon and weigh their options. They didn't need to report to Tamir yet (and didn't have much to tell him anyway) and were unsure how to proceed. Then, however, Adan revealed that he had overheard talk of "Daask" and captured wizards- and Gideon had told them that Cavallah was the head of "Daask," a local criminal organization- one made up, apparently, of Ogres and other monsters.

Adan then decided he would pursue this line, and went to see Professor Oleg once more. The professor was his usual wary self but the glowing tip of his wand was, at least, not shoved in Adan's face. "Kerth" quickly dropped his accent and his act, which, of course, brought the wand right back up into play; Adan quickly showed, however, that his intentions were merely to offer aid; that if the professor let him in on what was wrong, he might be able to help.

Oleg quickly broke down and began mopping his sweating brow. "Well, you see," he explained, "a few of my colleagues and I, well...we did a spot of adventuring, you see?" He seemed a bit abashed, but then went on, more forcefully. "After all, the power of thaumaturgy cannot be confined to the laboratory and lecture hall! It must be practiced, not merely studied! And the combined power of four wizards is nothing inconsiderable, you know. We had our successes; some wrongs righted, some minor magic uncovered, and most importantly, we advanced our knowledge and ability. But then...ah, then we came across something beyond us." The professor grew excited, but began sweating again, checking the door, and the wand in his pocket. "Dragonshards. Dragonshards the likes of which I have never seen; ancient things they were, and mysterious. We couldn't make much of them, but I'd wager they pre-dated the War of the Mark."

The Professor derailed into a brief history lesson on the War of the Mark; King Tarkanan, the Lady of the Plague, death, destruction, mayhem, the final destruction of so-called "Aberrant" Marks, how it all went down in Sharn, which was the last fortress of Tarkanan's people, how the Aberrant Dragonmarked forces unleashed terrible power (the Lady of the Plague, Tarkanan's Queen, in particular).

When Adan managed to bring him back on topic, he admitted that while he didn't know for sure, he felt strongly that the Dragonshards they found were actually attuned to Aberrant Marks, rather than true, though to what particular powers he could not say. Apparently, though, the Dragonshards were bound for Daask, and Daask enforcers came looking for them.

"But then they weren't satisfied with just getting the Shards back. They wanted us, presumably because we'd seen them or knew of them. First they took Cassini. Then Mungo...a likely young halfling lad with quite a talent...then they got old Shandy. Now it's just me. So you see why the locks and the wand," the latter of which he now brandished with a flourish. "Now, Karg...that nice Ogre fellow you met yesterday; he has some connections in that way. He himself has no truck with Daask, mind you, but, being an Ogre I suppose he maintains some kind of communications with them and such. At any rate, he was able to find out that Daask doesn't seem to have killed my colleagues. Merely captured them. I don't know any more...Karg might...but I would be significantly in your debt if you were to help my colleagues."

Armed with this new knowledge, Adan went off to see Karg, who still stunk. Karg explained that he believed Daask was headquartered in the Cogs, in a particular bar, that also served as a butcher shop, slaughterhouse, and general gathering place for "monsterfolk" from Droam. The three captured wizards might be there, he wasn't sure...but he'd try to find out.

Incidentally, Adan inquired where Karg had gotten his marvelous greatsword- which, Adan now knew, thanks to detect magic, was powerfully magical. Karg replied that he'd located an untouched cache of Dhakani treasure, but had only brought back the sword, because he needed help getting the rest of it. Adan filed this information away for future reference, then made plans to meet Karg at the Drunken Dragon after 9 that night. So the party waited.

Came 9pm, no sign of Karg. Nothing at 9:15. Nothing at 9:30. Nothing to worry about, says Adan- he is, after all, a graduate student. Nothing at 9:45 or 10:00. This, they decide, means trouble, and so they head off to Morgrave, to the offices of Karg and Oleg. The find Karg's office destroyed...and around the corner and down the hall, they heard the sound of splintering wood, and a terrified voice shouting "Eat hot thaumaturgy!" The Ogres had evidently found Oleg.

Battle was quickly joined, our intrepid heroes versus two Flinds...and whatever was in Oleg's office mauling him. When Oleg's limp body came flying past the broken door to land with a hard thump against the far wall, it was revealed to be an Ogre of the club-swinging variety. Most of the drama of this particular battle came when Kaloei took a swipe from the Ogre's club that knocked her clear down to the brink of death. She had no reserve of strength to call on, and no healing potions on her; Sol had none left either. Cyria was carrying several, but was too far back to reach Kaloei and administer them before she bled out. She threw one to Sol- and watched it sail past and splatter against a wall. Sol then promptly failed to staunch the bleeding with his healing skills. Somehow, through fickle fate or indomitable will, though, Kaloei survived.

(Translation in game terms: Kaloei went to -9, with no potions, no action points. Cyria was too far away to help, but ran up and tossed a potion towards Sol, but rolled a 1. Sol failed his "Heal" check. It all came down to the 10% chance of a roll of the die. She picked up her d10, said, c'mon lucky 7, and rolled. Came up 7. Talk about your dice-based drama. This is the kind of excitement diceless games must often lack...but that's another post).

The Flinds and Ogre were overcome, but not without difficulty. The party doesn't yet know the fate of Karg, or, for that matter, of Professor Oleg. But they are soon to find out.

Session VI- Welcome to Sharn

2007-07-02T22:49:00.000-04:00

At the close of last session, the party had managed to gain the trust...and the help...of Magana Corleis, Enchantress, Professor at Arcanix, and aunt of one of the disappeared folk on the "list" they got way back in Session I, Agate Corleis. Dropping the name "Urik Rorham" got them some credibility, apparently.

At any rate, Magana sent them off for the evening, saying she'd be of no help till the morning at any rate. That night, back in The Black Dog, Cyria settled in to try her hand at making potions, Kaloei remembered how to play the lute, Adan (the new fellow, for those who might not recall) took it upon himself to see about altering the traveling papers of the party (going to need those to get into Sharn) and Sol...well Sol probably sharpened his axes.

There was some discussion over just how to get into Sharn; it was ultimately decided that the fewest changes that needed to be made, the better. Sol suggested what those of us in gaming circles know as "the old Wookie prisoner trick," that is to say, just have Adan pose as a bounty hunter having captured the rest of them.

This was quickly dismissed. Wisely, as well; Sentinel Marshals and House Tharashk are much more competent than Stormtroopers and Imperial officers. The average white-hat detachment in a Star Wars game (or Star Wars movie) couldn't pour piss out of a boot with instructions on the heel. Sentinel Marshals might have a shot at getting the ground wet.

It was decided they'd pose as a family of farming elves come to Sharn to make offerings at a temple of Arawai (it is late summer, the 21st of Barrakas, and moving towards harvest season).

Anyway, in the morning, Magana had managed to procure a scroll of teleport (she can't quite cast greater teleport) and asked where they wanted to be set down. She could try for inside Sharn, but that would be fraught with peril, not to mention potentially detectable by those with nefarious intent. Alternately, she could set them down outside First Tower...but then they'd be on their own when it came to getting in. However, once inside, well...no one ought to be looking for them there, and they might be able to act with impunity...for a while.

There were some moments of hilarity at the gate, as the "Evenstars" talked their way in, on the strength of good Disguise and Forgery rolls. (On a side note, the way that Disguise and Forgery can work is one of my favorite parts of D&D; the DM makes the roll using the player's total skill bonus, and doesn't let them know the result until the deal goes down. That's awesome. Theoretically, as Adan's player pointed out, the perfect game would involve the DM making all the rolls...but what fun would that be?)

At any rate, they made it in...welcome to Sharn. Only Adan had ever been there before; Sol remained stolidly unimpressed. He still refuses to wear shoes. Kaloei was thrilled to find civilization. First order of business was to find the embassy district...Ambassador Towers, in the Upper Wards of Central Plateau. Sol set off to get a new set of traveling papers from the Aerenal embassy, and Kaloei and Cyria did the same at the Aundairian embassy. Adan has...several sets of traveling papers...

Annnnyway, Cyria and Kaloei had some problems:

"We lost our traveling papers to bandits on the road."
Clerk, quizzically: "Then how'd you get into Sharn?"
Kaloei:
Clerk: "I'm waiting."
Kaloei flashes cleavage, dashes away to regroup.

Eventually they just got in line for a different clerk, told a more coherent story, and got new papers. They also asked for an appointment with Tamir ir'Windarn, an upper secretary- the contact they were told to seek by Urik. They were told they'd hear from him in a day or two.

Meanwhile, Adan went off to try and scare up some information; first, he sought out word of who to speak to at Morgrave University regarding Dragonmarks; he was referred to a Professor Oleg, of the Arcane History department.

Second, he sought word of who might be into human trafficking; he heard that the place to go asking about that was down in the Cogs, where he ought not go without some serious muscle around him. So he put that thought off for the time being.

The party made plans to meet up at The Drunken Dragon, an Inn of note in the Adventurer's Quarter. While there, Kaloei and Soledyn got a message from the Embassy asking them to come see Tamir ir'Windarn. They took Cyria, who, when ushered into the presence of the secretary...middle aged, rotund, balding, dressed in finery...was asked to leave, because she was most certainly not one of the people Urik had told him to expect. He asked for any information they might've yet found and asked that they check in with him every other day. He also recommended they find an Inquisitive who knows Sharn better than they do. All the best Inquisitives are members of House Tharashk, so they wanted to stay clear of them. Tamir said he'd heard decent things about an Inquisitive Agency called Skysedge Investigations, run by some fellow named Gideon.

They regrouped, rested and decided to seek more information in the morning, starting with seeking out Skysedge Investigations; this proved more difficult than they had expected, as, when scouring Skysedge Park for an office, they found nothing. By asking around they find that, office or no, Gideon can sometimes be found hanging around the park. Eventually they track him down; a large fellow, sitting on a bench, reading and smoking a pipe, soft-spoken, calm, reserved.

Kaloei immediately entered negotiations with him, giving him a list of things to look into, for a 5 day retainer of 250 silver pieces.

(Note: I think that's way low, but it's the book rates for non-Dragonmarked Inquisitives. I went with it because I figure Gideon's just starting out, really).

The list was as follows;
Pietra of Whiteroof Ward; where is she? who is Duvrin? are they still in the city?

Cavallah? (He was taken aback by this name).

Agate Corleis

Riann Nagel

Urik Rorham (deciding to check up on their employer. tsk tsk.)

the statues? any connection between Cavallah and Lord Admiral Lyrien?

Thus employed, Gideon told them to meet him after 11 at The Broken Tailfeather, a...tavern...down in a lower ward.

First things first; they decided to check in at the Lhazar embassy to see if the statue destined for Lord Admiral Lyrien, the Lhazar Consul in Sharn, had arrived yet. They were informed that yes, it had, but, in light of "recent events" the Admiral had thought it politic to cancel the gala that was to accompany the unveiling of the statue. Public viewing, however, was available for the price of 5 silver pieces a head. They paid their money and were ushered into the back. Adan quietly cast a Detect Magic to see if the statue had any aura.

Two things of note were learned; one, the statue was not the same statue that had been with the caravan. It was high quality work, worth thousands of gold pieces, and done on the same subject, an Aundairian farmer...but it was not the same. Second, it had no magical aura.

Uncertain what to make of these developments, the party split for the time being.

Adan headed for Morgrave to meet with Professor Oleg. It took some doing to even get into his office. Professor Oleg, it seems, is a nervous sort; he kept a wand trained on Adan for much of the time, asking "who are you with?" and giving voice to concerns about "the ogres." Adan adopted a thorough and believable farmboy persona, giving his name as "Kerth." He said he'd just come into Sharn, taking a break from "farmin' the goats," and he was in town looking for information about...a rash.

Adan, it seems, may be growing a Dragonmark...a large one. According to Professor Oleg, there were some very exciting things happening in the skies these days, some astrological formations that haven't been seen for thousands of years...since the War of the Mark, even! It could be that his rash was related to that. Perhaps it might be an Aberrant dragonmark!

Kerth wondered if that was anything like what "those nice Vadalis fellas who come down to help us with the goats have."

Professor Oleg, his concerns about the ogres long since forgotten, continued to hold forth about the War of the Mark, and Aberrant Dragonmarks and so on and so forth. Eventually, they were interrupted by a knock at the door, which put Oleg back into full wand-waving paranoia. There was, in fact, an Ogre at the door- albeit one with his hair washed and held back, wearing clean leather armor, and carrying an enormous sword on his back. Granted, he smelled awful...really awful, and his skin was full of boils and sores, but he was clearly an Ogre who was trying.

Oleg seemed delighted to see him, and introduced him as Karg. It was understood that Kerth's meeting was over, and Adan set off; however, he paused at the door to listen. He caught a few things;

"Know where they're being held...Daask...can't do any more...I'm sorry..."

Meanwhile, back with Team Elf!

They decided to catch the speech given by Prince Lorrister of the Heavenly Fleet; if you'll recall from a previous post, he is seeking allies in his opposition to the overthrow of Prince Ryger in the Lhazar Principalities; according to him, there is an alliance of fleets...the Cloudreavers, the Diresharks, and even elements of Ryger's own Seadragons...have besieged Ryger at his own stronghold of Regalport.

The Prince emerged from the Temple of Dol Arrah, on his own, with no entourage or bodyguards, wearing bright blue leather armor and carrying a simple cutlass at his side. There was a scaffold erected for him to speak from, and rather than ascend by stairs, he unfurled his large white wings and flew to the top, and began to address the crowd that had gathered. His speech was to the point;

"When I set off for Lhazar, 4 years ago, you laughed at me. You mocked me. Most predicted I would be dead inside a fortnight. And yet I here I am. Even now my fleet seeks to break the blocake of Regalport. I have made advances, though none miraculous. And now, treachery and darkness threaten to send the Lhazar Principalities, and all their peoples, too, back to the days of lawlessness, of piracy and rape and murder. And you and your lords and your kings will stand by and watch it happen, all because we are too far to your north to be bothered by. Prince Ryger was treated as an equal, and Lhazar as a sovereign nation, at Thronehold, when the war ended- and if this were happening in Breland, or Karnath, or Aundair, none of your kings would stand for it. I tell you now that if Khorvaire lets this happen, you will pay a heavy blood-price."

That was more or less the gist of things. They followed him for a second speech, which was highlighted by his shaming of Lord Admiral Lyrien by calling him out, and asking him to name specifically whom he served, which Lyrien would not do. Otherwise the speech was much the same.

Flash forward to finding The Broken Tailfeather. It was down a ways, in Olladra's Forge, a lower class tavern district, and notable for the red lantern hanging over the door. They were a few hours early, so they had time to survey the "menu," which included drinks, bar food, and reasonably priced love for all races. Nobody partook of anything but drinks, though Cyria seemed only to hold back because of the presence of her comrades.

Eventually, Gideon showed up, after 11, as he'd said. He was in his working clothes; a long black cloak, armor beneath, and a bloody big sword on his back. He'd done quite a bit of legwork and had preliminary reports on much of what they'd asked, but only preliminary;

Pietra of Whiteroof Ward: Known to have entered the city with Duvrin almost a decade ago. Status since then uncertain

Duvrin: "I found that in some veteran bars, they speak of this dwarf with a reverence reserved for dead heroes...and yet, as near as I can tell, he's now a heavy for one of the guilds of thieves...House Tarkanan. Assassins, or so I've heard. Seems to be the same fellow."

Cavallah: "Ogre. Leader of Daask. Daask is at war with the Boromars (the party, of course, is clueless as to who the Boromars might be), and the little bastards would wipe them out if Daask would just stay still and fight, but they won't. She's tough and dangerous, probably down in the Cogs, and no, I don't know why she'd be buying art. Especially expensive art."

Agate Corleis: No word. Some brief mention of someone matching her situation coming into the city, but I couldn't make the timing right. Given when she disappeared from Arcanix, and when she was rumored to be seen here...she'd have to have crossed the distance in a matter of a couple of days.

Riann Nagel: Nothing. Sorry.

Urik Rorham: Far as I can tell, this man doesn't exist. Now if you'll pardon me, I have work to do- work that entails staring at the door and making sure no one causes trouble.

Thus informed, the party headed back to the Drunken Dragon to consider their next move.

More to come in Part II, later.

Homework #1 - Soledyn Lumaenars

2007-07-01T00:30:00.000-04:00

here are some questions that were recently posed to the players and responses (for Sol).

General progression:

Ranger4 - possibly substitute in the "elven ranger" class from the races of the wild manual. this would appears as though it would more accurately reflect the personality and background of Sol - more of a focus on skills and training, greater emphasis on undead as a favoured enemy, and an elven hound companion. at this level Sol will also gain access to spellcasting and boost his DEX to 21.

Ranger4/Scout1 - to better complement his combat tactics Sol will multiclass to Scout and dump a large number of skill points into "athletic" and "agility" skills.

Ranger4/Scout2 - Weapon Focus (hand axe)
Ranger4/Scout3
Ranger4/Scout4 - Precise Shot
Ranger4/Scout4/Master Thrower1 - Quick Draw; Tumbling Toss (PrC: as in the "Complete Warrior")

...if we get this far, great.

What kind of magic items do you desperately wish to acquire?

Sol favours freedom of movement above all else, therefore, his desire for magical weapons and vestments is limited to those that are small, lightweight, and easily accessible. the preferred items would replace current personal effects (i.e. clothing) and weaponry or be worn without additional encumbrance (i.e. rings). While useful, sol absolutely detests footwear of any kind. Specifically, Sol is on the lookout for items with the following properties:

freedom of movement; speed/haste;dimension door; striding & springing (but... no boots); some form of protection vs. undead; robe of blending; heward's handy haversack; survival pouch; glove(s) of storing.
Properties desired of weapons include: bane (undead or evil); distance; seeking; returning; speed; sunlight(?).

What kind of extraordinary things do you want to be able to accomplish? What do you see your character doing as they become more well known, more important? What kind of influence do you want them to be able to wield?

Sol does not seek to become a great battlefield commander or an army-of-one; fame and glory do not appeal to this soldier. he intends to become a celebrated, feared, and merciful warrior who seeks to preserve life where possible and destroy all aberrations. However, while in battle sol does strive to be self-sufficient and able to respond to any threat.

Sol hopes to use his time and experience in Khorvaire, away from family and the Deathguard, to gain a better understanding of the timeless importance of positive energy - life. by participating in the matters of the shorter-lived races he hopes to gain insight and devotion necessary to represent his lineage to the Undying Court.

As last of the Lumaenars line, he hopes to determine the fate of his kin lost on the day of mourning - to simply name what happened and lay their souls to rest. His greatest fear is that they have been twisted as many creatures were in Cyre and that they now resemble or have become undead. Until that time, he will prepare himself for the journey.

Finally, Sol just wants a chance to wipe out as many undead as possible. Going toe-to-toe with Karnatthi hordes again would be preferable to the murky ethics of cities and investigations. Perhaps a run at Vol?

Stats Blocks & Character Info

2007-06-20T14:34:00.000-04:00

Soledyn Lumaenars - Level 3

Male Aerenian Elf Ranger 3
Medium humanoid (elf)
HD 3d8+3 (22 hp)
Init +5; Spd 30ft; AC 20
Atk +7/+7 melee (1d6+3, masterwork hand axe x2), +8/+8 ranged (1d6+3, masterwork hand axe x2), +8 melee (1d8+3, long sword)
SA Favoured enemy(undead); SQ Elf traits
AL NG; SV Fort +4, Ref +8, Will +3
Str 17, Dex 20, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 11

Skills and Feats: Bluff +2*, Handle Animal +2, Heal +6, Hide +11, Knowledge(geography) +5, Listen +8/+10*, Move Silently +11, Search +6, Sense Motive +2*, Spot +8/+10*, Survival +10; Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesses, Endurance, Point Blank Shot, Track, Least Aberrant Dragonmark (Inflict light wounds 1/day).
*Bonuses against favoured enemy(undead).

Possessions: +1 mithril chain shirt, masterwork hand axe (x2), hand axe (x2), long sword, potion of cure moderate wounds, cold iron capsule, travelling papers.

Session V -- New Player

2007-06-17T23:39:00.000-04:00

When last we heard from of our heroes, they were victorious over the Ashbound, but on the edge of Aundair/Eldeen Border. They had found some serious treasure, gotten themselves good and blooded, and were in a dilemma about where to go.

They need to get to Sharn. They had basically 3 choices;

1. Go overland.

2. Sneak back into Passage to take the Lightning Rail.

3. Try to develop a third option. What Kaloei, the Aundairian native suggested was; go to Arcanix.

(OOC Note: This is also the route strongly endorsed by the GM, since we needed to introduce a new player tonight, and Arcanix made the most sense as a place for him to be).

Also, Arcanix provides many advantages; the Dragonmarked Houses are not, as a rule, welcomed there, and do not wield much influence, so the likelihood of House Deneith and House Orien coming after them there were slim. Now, granted, a Sentinel Marshal has power wherever he goes, but if they have a Sentinel Marshal after them, there isn't much they can do about it.

So, Arcanix it was; for those not in the know, Arcanix is the site of the Arcane Congress, a gathering of Aundair's most powerful mages (as well as those of other countries) and the primary rival of the Twelve (the most powerful wizards of the Dragonmarked Houses). Arcanix is famous for its floating towers, and I think of it as the Eberron equivalent of a luxury condominium building, with super-expensive condos above a group of exclusive shops. You can buy anything magical in Arcanix, and many non-magical goods.

Knowing this, among the first things the party decided to do was find a shop where they could convert their recently found treasure to some cash money.

The first sign they spotted was a magically animated one, of a backpack being upended and all sorts of adventuring gear pouring out, over glowing letters that said:

The Bottomless Bag
Catering to those in the rough trades
of Adventuring and Exploring
All Needs Met! All Orders Filled!
Holden Cannear, Prop.

They figured that was as good a place as any to start, so in they went.

It was quite the emporium, with separate counters for arms, armor, miscellaneous items, and jewelry. The most prominent customer was a rather lean looking human fellow negotiating over the price of a hat. It must have been quite the hat, given that the haggling was over the lack of a feather, and centered on 100 gp of the whole price. The human insisted that there must be a feather, while the halfling he haggled with demonstrated that the hat in question could appear to have any kind of feather the wearer wished once its properties were activated. The human countered that, if he were caught in an anti-magic zone, his hat would not have a feather, at which point the halfling called for his assistant to procure a selection of feathers.

Cirya, the druid, sidled up and offered the fellow an eagle feather, while Kaloei began negotiating the sale of their goods. For the exotic harp, she managed to wrangle 600 gp. Meanwhile, Sol was showing the set of the warhammer, shield, and breastplate, all with the arms of a Cyran noble family, likely made by Cannith Smiths in Metrol. In other words, the kind of work that you just don't see anymore.

This, unfortunately, was not being accurately conveyed by Sol, who isn't up on his haggling etiquette. The human fellow, though, noticed this, and appearing to know something about Cyran work, helpfully pointed out that the set ought to be worth some serious gold, especially considering the fact that no one will ever make something quite like it again. The set fetched around 1400 gp. In thanks for his help, Cirya promised to buy him a beer at the inn later.

But then, the real cash-money items came out; the ring and the fire-opal pendant. Upon seeing the ring, the halfling at the jewelry counter said he need to introduce them to his boss. So into the back study they went with the boss, Holdren Cannear, halfling provisioner, who told them he never wanted it said that an adventurer was treated unfairly at his store.

The ring was serious money. Around 4,000 gp. Then Kaloei remembered the bag of rubies they've been carrying around, and those fetched 900 apiece.

(To all DMs: beware rolling random treasure. Then you wind up putting 10,000+gps into the hands of players. But sometimes random treasure is fun- but that's a whole other blog post).

At any rate, all the haggling and selling and buying resulted in Kaloei getting her rapier enchanted to +1, and a masterwork lute, Soledyn getting a +1 mithral chain shirt and 2 braces of masterwork handaxes, and Cirya getting herself a traveling alchemist's kit and a masterwork darkwood breastplate.

Thence to the Inn and meeting with the human fellow, Adan, who had a business proposition for them; one of the professors at Arcanix, Magana Corleis, an enchantress, was in need of some particularly hard to acquire spell components; redcap teeth.

Redcaps, for those not in the know, are particularly vicious, psychotic, cannibal fey. Their caps stay red by being dipped in the blood of those they devour. When slain, they leave behind a single tooth, one with faint magical properties the enchantress believes she can exploit.

Adan's proposal was simple. Enter the forest outside Arcanix, find some redcaps, slay them, get their teeth, and be paid 1200 apiece. Redcaps are not easily slain, as Adan was told, but cold iron could help do the job, and there are places to acquire cold-iron alchemical capsules (there are silvering capsules, so why not cold iron?), one application each, lasts for 1 minute, at 100 gp per. The party acquired some, along with some much needed healing potions, and set off.

It wasn't hard to find redcap sign, but it took the better part of a day to track them. Eventually, of course, the party was ambushed by a group of five of the little beasts, and it was quite the fight. Though no PCs were killed, it was quite taxing on their resources and teamwork. Five redcaps were brought down (redcaps are not the sort to retreat from a fight) with significant damage being done to Cirya and Sol.

OOC Note: I kept rolling absolute stink for these little bastards. I think in total they landed 4 blows with melee weapons, and maybe 3 with slings. Not good.

Adan voted for staying to find more redcaps, pointing out that one doesn't abandon a precious metal mine after getting the first load. Mines, however, don't actively bite back.

The party set back off for Arcanix, but after a few hours travel the next day, heard the voice of a young woman calling for help. Sol and Kal rushed forward, and there was a slight cloaked figure upon a hunter's path, claiming her horse had thrown her and broken her leg, and she needed any aid they could render.

When Sol approached the damsel in distress was revealed to be a slight avian figure brandishing a crossbow, ordering the party to stand down.

More combat!

Turns out a squad of Kenku assassins were after the party, and Kenku assassins mean business. One rogue, two thugs (rogue/fighters) and one wizard assaulted the party.

The wizard proved to be the toughest foe, disabling Adan with Tasha's Hideous Laughter, and severely limiting Sol with a Ray of Enfeeblement. Much damage was dealt, with Sol once again barely scraping through. When things turned against the kenku, the wizard went invisible and disappeared.

When one of the thugs was brought down alive, however, the wizard appeared again in order to silence him with a Magic Missile, as he had offered to spill all he knew. The wizard was then captured in his stead; interesting information was brought to light.

Namely, that this was a directed hit/capture attempt. The leader had a sheet of parchment with detailed descriptions of Sol, Kaloei, and Cirya. Under duress (not quite torture, mind you...just some good cop/bad cop/leave him tied up for the redcaps cop act by Kal, Sol, and Adan) he said he didn't know why they were hired, or the client's name. That they came out of Stariluskar in Breland (several hundred miles away) four days ago, with the client, who was a large, soft, rather rotund kind of man, with teleportation magic at his command, since he took them quickly to Passage and then set them on the trail.

The party concludes that Joreth d'Orien put a hit out on them, but that House Deneith (given some info on Deneith practices by Adan) wouldn't be sending assassins; that's not their way.

Edit: I forgot to mention this important moment; they could not decide what to do with the captive. There was brief talk of buying him off and having him try to dig up information for them; they concluded he wasn't likely to stay bought. The wizard himself said that if they just let him go, he'd disappear into Sharn. Kaloei couldn't bring herself to execute him, while Adan and Cirya were both perfectly willing to let it happen, it seemed neither wanted to do the deed. The decision was left to Sol (who seems, in some ways, to be evolving into a 'party leader' role- they also left it to him to decide whether to go out into the wild with Adan). Sol's weighed the decision heavily, but ultimately drew his longsword and pierced the bound kenku wizard's throat.

Back to Arcanix, with more loot. Interestingly enough, once they returned to town, everyone in sight was reading a special issue of The Korranberg Chronicle, with the headline and lead story:

WAR!
In the Lhazar Principalities

"Prince Ryger ir'Wynarn of the Seadragons, self-styled heir to the throne of Galifar, appears to have been betrayed by his own fleet and deposed as de facto leader of the island territories. The ships in his fleet that have not turned against him have been forced into a siege at his seat of Regalport, where he is besieged by the Diresharks and the Cloudreavers, two of his larger and stronger opponents, have united to destroy him. Prince Lorrister of the Heavenly Fleet intends to aid him, but the blockade keeps his smaller fleet at bay. Given that fact, Prince Lorrister, a dashing figure you will no doubt recall having been written up in this very Chronicle when he set off to "sweep clean the Lhazar Principalities of pirates and make the seas safe for honest men," is even now making a tour, at great expense (with aid of House Orien's magic) of the great cities of Khorvaire, pleading for aid and allies. Though the Prince is a rousing speaker, he has yet to gain any allies of note. He is expected in the City of Towers within the week. When asked for comment, Lord Admiral Lyrien, consul of the Lhazar Principalities in Sharn, stated that the people Khorvaire needn't be worried, that it was all a purely internal matter, a squabble over succession, and that order should be restored in the Lhazar Principalities within a matter of weeks. The Lord Admiral would not comment upon the imminent arrival of Prince Lorrister."

The party bought and read a copy, and in Kaloei's words, "we must get to Sharn quickly."

Five redcap teeth were turned over for the promised gold, and finally (after a little prompting) Kal remembered that one of the names on the list way back from session I was Agate Corleis...similar to Magana Corleis, the professor they were working for. The list was produced. Magana was a bit put off. Asked who they were working for. Disappeared for a few minutes, then came back and was all help, no fuss. Turns out the missing Agate Corleis is her niece, and a student from Arcanix who vanished 4 months ago.

The plot thickens. Magana has promised help in getting them quickly to Sharn, and they await learning the form that help might take.

Another Edit: Since when did Kenku not have wings? Second edition depictions of Kenku always did. They were also telepathic, weren't they? Now they're just sneaky evil little bird men, with no level adjustment as a PC race. How far would wings and projective telepathy take them up? +2? I don't remember if they could actually fly or not, though.

The Oldest Question: Bag End Edition

2007-06-10T12:53:00.001-04:00

Okay, maybe not the oldest. But an old one; applying character classes/levels/characteristics to favorite protagonists from movies and or books.

Today: Bilbo Baggins

The Bilbo Baggins we meet at the beginning of The Hobbit clearly has no PC class levels. As I see it, there are three potential choices; Commoner, Expert, or Aristocrat. Bilbo is a man of leisure; he has staff (the Gamgees) lives off his parents' money, and has no craft or job as far as we know, and is an expert at nothing. I think he's clearly a 1st level Aristocrat, and his stats look something like this;

Str 8, Dex 15, Con 16, Wis 14, Int 12, Cha 13

I think Con and Wis have to be well above average because of how well he deals with the Ring- remember, further on down the line, Bilbo becomes the only person ever to willingly give up the Ring after holding it for more than a brief time. He also shows some real hardiness on the trip to the Lonely Mountain. I wavered on his Intelligence, but honestly, in the Riddle Game he relies on Wisdom, and "what have I got in my pocket" was a complete fluke.

His 1st level skills, I think, are as follows (Aristocrat gets 4 skill points, +1 for Int)
Hide +2
Move Silently +2
Knowledge: Local-Shire +4
Knowledge: Geography +2
Knowledge: History +2
Craft: Cooking +2
Perform: Sing +2

Sometime early in the trip he definitely breaks the PC-class barrier and starts taking levels in Rogue (probably maxing out somewhere around 5 or 6) and starts beefing up Hide and Move Silently, as well as adding Sleight of Hand. I do not think he ever picks up Open Locks or Disable Device.

I also think one can make a convincing argument that somewhere on the trip through Mirkwood he attains a level or two in Ranger, with Favored Enemy: Vermin.

By the time he gets to the Lonely Mountain he probably looks something like this:
Aristocrat 1/Rogue 5/Ranger 2, with maxed out Hide and Move Silently, and some points into Balance, Jump, Survival, and Climb (he dances around those trees in the battle against the spiders with aplomb) having added points into Dexterity and Charisma, for a new stat block of
Str 8, Dex 16, Con 16, Wis 14, Int 12, Cha 14.

He has also acquired two super-nifty magic items:
+2 Mithril Chain Shirt (Small-Size)
+3 Orcbane Short Sword (Sting)

And one super powerful treacherous artifact; the Ring. For now though, it functions merely as a Ring of Improved Invisibility, a handy item for a Rogue/Ranger.

Eventually as Bilbo comes home he retires from active adventuring and multiclasses even further, taking levels in Bard, probably no more than 2. So he'd finish his career as an Aristocrat 1/Rogue 5/Ranger 2/Bard 2. Thankfully he has managed to avoid the dreaded multiclass experience penalty. As a Bard he focuses on Perform: Poetry, and also I believe takes some ranks in Craft: Cartography (as we all know, a fine traditional skill for Hobbits of all sorts to have).

There you have it; Bilbo Baggins reduced to a set of D&D stats. Enjoy.

Session IV Part II

2007-06-04T10:39:00.000-04:00

So the intrepid heroes approached the small Ashbound camp. It was basically just 3 earthen huts, a midden heap and a firepit. Many of the marauders were simply milling around in front of the fire, silhouetting themselves nicely for arrow fire.

The party, plus the Constable and his 2 men, decided to come around the back, unleash a volley of arrows, along with an entangle spell from Cyria, then move in and slaughter them as necessary. There were no signs of the Shifters known to be with the crew, including a vile Ashbound druid named Kir; tracking had revealed two sets of Shifter tracks, however.

The arrow volley went off; unfortunately the druid neglected to fire off her entangle, and thus ended the surprise round.

There was some eerie howling coming from off in the trees, but still no sign of the Shifters as Sol and the Constable skulked in. The entangle went off, another volley of arrows, and the slaughter was on. The average Ashbound warrior was toting a club, a wooden shield and some crude hide armor; these arms were no match for the metal and discipline and skill of Sol and the Constable.

Unfortunately nobody accounted for the Shifters, and the first time one was seen was when, charging from the shadows, he clubbed one of the deputy constables into a fine pulp with his massive greatclub.

The only person capable of a response at the time was Cyria; she did what any good druid would and cast Summon Nature's Ally. The resulting wolf attacked.

Meanwhile Sol and the Constable and Kal were making short work of the Ashbound; highlights included Sol cracking a sternum with an axe blow, and Kaloei spearing one clean through the throat on a charge with her rapier.

Meanwhile, still no sign of the Druid. The barbarian Shifter, however, broke the spine of that poor summoned wolf. Cyria summoned another, which was quickly dispatched in the same manner. But they both did some damage.

Then Kir emerged.

Pop quiz: when you're in combat and you know a Druid is around, but you don't see him for 4 rounds, what is the Druid doing?

Answer: He's casting Bull's Str, Bear's Endurance, Barkskin, and Shillelagh.

So once Kir emerged, he was buffed to the max and charging while waving his now glowing club- with which, in two quick blows, he felled Sol to death's door.

Thankfully Sol was able to get a blow or two in himself, first. As was Kaloei. Finally, the Constable went for a two-handed thrust with his bastard sword, and spitted the bastard.

In the meantime, the barbarian Shifter had charged Cyria and whacked her around a bit. Sol wasn't in danger of bleeding to death, though definitely out of the fight, and Kaloei boldly charged the barbarian, sticking him with the rapier. Cyria brought her spear into play, and the Barbarian was felled.

Victory!

They began searching the bodies...and finding hide armor, clubs, and crude wooden shields.

The Constable fetched the horses and pointed out that anything of value the Ashbound had found on victims would be tossed into the midden. Then he mounted up, pointed the direction Passage was, and the direction Sharn was, and rode off back towards Passage.

Sol, not too proud to get dirty, climbed into the midden and started searching. The search turned up the first serious treasure the party has found:

600 gp in assorted coinage
a finely-crafted MW warhammer
a matching set of MW breastplate and large steel shield- clearly goes with the warhammer as the equippage of a knight, including coat of arms
a MW adamantine dagger
a bronzewood harp inlaid with ivory and zircons
a fire-opal pendant
a jeweled platinum ring

So, side quest over. The party has horses, though of course they barely know how to ride. The debate as the session ended was, do we try to sneak back to Passage to get on the lightning rail, or do we ride to Sharn?

I love leaving them in conflict.

Session IV- Time for a Side Quest

2007-06-03T23:55:00.000-04:00

So all of us DM sorts have been there. What do you do when;

A. You aren't quite sure how to bridge from Plot Point A to Plot Point B
B. Even if you get the players to Plot Point B they'd be chewed up like a drunk rabbit by a John Deere

Do I hear "side quest?"

Side quests can, if you ask me, make or break a campaign. They aren't necessary- that's why they're "side" quests. Now there are some DMs who'll tell you that side quests are pointless. I disagree. Think of what your favorite RPG video games would be without side quests. Sure, in Baldur's Gate II you don't have to go, say, root out the slavers in the slums, or take on the Unseeing Eye, or fight either the Shadow Dragon or the Red Dragon. But what fun is the game if you don't?

Now, a pen and paper game is no video game. However, as I said, they can make or break a campaign. I don't think everything the players do has to relate heavily to the over-arcing plot. Sometimes you just need to let them kill monsters. Sometimes you come up with an interesting little wrinkle and you can't jam it into the overall plot. But if you come at the players with nothing but side quests, they'll get bored, they'll get punchy, and I postulate they'll just stop showing up to the table.

Unless, of course, you're playing an episodic game- which could work very well for, say, a group of private investigators located in Sharn, which would be a great campaign- but that's a whole other post.

Back to the main point; too many side quests, bad. No side quests, bad. No side quests means the players are slogging through plot every week, and that can get a little heavy. Not to mention it makes it a little tough on the DM; with no side quests, you need heavy main-plot relevant content every week and fill up a whole session with it. That's lots of work. And unless you're B.A. Felton and have 8 hours a week to devote to prep, you don't want to be doing that. Now, from what I hear about Burning Empires from Soul Kerfuffle , side quests don't seem to be a part of the B.E. experience; it just doesn't seem like the game is built for that, and that's fine. D&D definitely is.

So, tonight I clearly needed a side quest. Some bait had been dangled, some plot points introduced, some villains revealed, etc. Now, there was no way the party would make it all the way to Sharn tonight; that just wouldn't be possible, as they're still hundreds of miles away. So, I started thinking, what can I do, what interesting obstacles can I toss in front of them and drag them into a side quest that would be interesting but not take them too far off the beaten path.

So, the summation of the session:

Milaya d'Orien, the acting caravan master, made it clear she would no longer tolerate their presence once the caravan reached Passage. She also made it clear that they would not be allowed anywhere near the wagon carrying the one remaining statue from Master Sculptor Haradeen.

So, naturally, they had to try and get a good look. Kaloei employed her Least Dragonmark's ability and tried to wheedle her way into the wagon while looking like an Orien guard, but the 2 remaining Tharashk mercs were having none of that tomfoolery. Sol, meanwhile, tried to track Milaya on her circuits around the caravan- a difficult task when you're tracking someone with serious "Dimension Jump" ability. Sol also quickly learns he has a shadow, albeit one not very good at skulking.

Ultimately, not terribly much was accomplished, except for Derrin Leyn d'Sivis trying to drop a not-very-well-regarded warning to them that he expected to be sending detailed descriptions of three people ahead to Passage via his speaking stone before they got there.

Eventually, the caravan does reach Passage. And every passenger is asked to present their identification papers. And Sol, Kal, and Cyria are all asked to "please go wait in the gatehouse for a moments. Thank you. No I don't know why, sir/lady. Please just go wait in the gatehouse. Please. Yes. Thank you. Yes, now."

And they go wait in the gatehouse...until a detachment of armed, armored men show up, all clearly bearing the signs of House Deneith. One of them introduces himself as Velden d'Deneith, Sentinel Marshal. And you guessed it; Sol, Kal, and Cyria are all placed under arrest under charges of aiding and abetting banditry, banditry, attempted theft, granting aid and succor to bandits(which sounds an awful lot like the first, but isn't quite the same). There is some sputtering, but there were 6 heavily armed members of House Deneith out to discharge their duty, and several other witnesses, in the form of Passage City Guardsmen, to add the charges of assault, resisting arrest, and murder to the charges that would be levied against Kal, Sol, and Cyria, or, rather, against their corpses, since they wouldn't be terribly likely to survive against 6 Sentinel Marshals.

They were asked to surrender their arms and goods, for 3 small elfish folk, quite an impressive pile of steel appeared- a longbow, a longspear, a rapier, four throwing axes, about 8 daggers, some darts, a longsword...it was a little surprising.

They were manacled together and tossed in the back of a covered, windowless, locked wagon and carted around the city for 15 or 20 minutes. Eventually they were delivered to a nondescript little jailhouse, run by a local Constable known as Constable Corleth. A big fellow, a bit older, a bastard sword strapped to his back, etc. They get tossed in a jail cell with a fellow named Gen, and are warned by the Constable not to get too close or they'll find their pockets are missing anything they've got left in them.

Sol responded with a great line; "All Gen will find in my pockets are broken fingers." The Constable chuckled.

It was around then that Sol noticed an insignia on the hilt of the Constable's sword, a Cyran one. Sort of similar to those the erstwhile bandits were wearing. They bring this up, to which he tersely responds that he is not, in fact, Cyran. They also start dropping all the names and hints attached to what landed them in jail; Iyerke d'Tharashk, the Queen's Blades, Ilgar ir'Tarnis , that Joreth d'Orien vanished with the purported petrified, etc etc.

The Constable was intrigued. Mildly. He started questioning them systematically. What did Iyerke d'Tharashk look like? How did he act? Anyone claiming to be Ilgar ir'Tarnis was lying. The ir'Tarnis line was extinguished.

Side note; to anyone from the old Eberron games reading this blog, I'm just re-using the name ir'Tarnis. Not the character. Nobody is looking askance at anyone's silver arm.

Ahem; we now return from the in-joke back to your regularly scheduled blog update.

He asks question after question about their story, reconstructing it. They reiterate their belief that the statue of the Cyran officer was, in fact, really a person, and that the "Queen's Blades" claimed it truly was Ilgar ir'Tarnis. He questioned them closely on the tactics and behavior of the bandits, although Kaloei's insistence that they must be Cyran because they used the battlecry "For Cyre." He sneered and wondered why anyone would bother fighting for a statue. Besides, he said, the captain's dead.

Eventually someone realized that he just said "the captain." Not "their captain." The captain. Has to mean something, right? He stubbornly insists he isn't Cyran.

Meanwhile, when they get a quiet moment, Gen starts working on them. Get the Constable in there; he'll lift the keys, or a knife, and they can get out. He's looking at a death sentence and that just isn't fair. Just a sad coincidence he's in there, they're just trying to pin something on him, he didn't do anything. Did he mention they're going to hang him? Just get the Constable in here and we'll figure it out from there, c'mon, we can get out together. And so on.

The Constable informs them that dinner will be along eventually. Along with, hopefully, a death order for Gen.

Gen kept explaining to Kal, Sol, and Cyria how it was all a misunderstanding. A visibly angered Constable stormed back towards the cell. Turns out Gen is a grave-robber.

Grave-robbing, they say? Ugly, but hardly a capital crime.

The Constable explained; "He was robbing a veteran's graveyard. Looking to sell bits of uniform and weapons and buttons as souvenirs. And when a hobbled old veteran out there early one morning saw him with a shovel in one hand and a sack in the other, he got his throat cut. Didn't he, Gen?"

That shut Gen up, and made Sol offer to hang him himself. Thus ensued a discussion between the Constable and Sol about the war, what Sol did and where, and what was an Aerenal elf doing in Cyre, anyway? He seemed a bit impressed. Sat down and smoked his pipe and asked more questions about their story. When his shift ended, he said he'd be back in the morning. And, he added, pointing at Gen, hopefully I get to hang you.

The night passed uneventfully. Gen wailed and blubbered. Begged for them to help him get out. They were unsympathetic.

Comes morning. Also comes their barrister, and who should it be, but Derryn Leyn d'Sivis. He notes that he probably won't be the barrister if it goes to trail, but is serving temporarily till a more permanent one can be found. He will take messages, bring them parchment and writing implements (they're entitled) and leave a small coin purse with the Constable to pay for messengers.

He'll bill them.

As he's speaking to them, the Constable shows up to fetch Gen, warrant in hand, smile on his face. He manacles his hands through the bars, one at a time. Gen sobs. Gen pleads, Gen goes limp with fear. The Constable drags him off, unmoved. The party thought they saw an opening when the Constable came in the cell- without help- to fetch Gen. Thankfully, Derrin saw their eyes go wide and gave them a frantic wave-off, pointing to the sword. He spoke to them some more while they tried not to listen to the crowd outside cheering raucously for the hanging.

What did he have to tell them? The Constable was, regrettably, impossible to bribe. He had a good reputation. He was Cyran born, but claimed Aundairian citizenship through marriage. House Deneith and House Orien, despite the latter's basically owning the city of Passage, were reluctant to deal with the case- that's why they were in a local Constable's prison, and not the cells in the Deneith enclave. Their best bet was to lay low, send messages to whomever they could and try to stay on the Constable's good side. He'd be back before lunch.

He took away some messages and off he went. The Constable came in and thumbed his pipe full. Noted that the Haradeen sculptures were on display up in the Orien enclave for a 5 silver piece fee. He took a walk last night and had a look. Said the statue did indeed look an awful lot like the Captain. (You could just hear the capital C). Still, could just be a statue- he'd disappeared over a year and a half ago, and all his family was considered dead in the Mourning. He asked some more questions about the tactics of the "Queen's Blades" and speculated about why they'd try to steal a statue. Maybe that's all some people have left to fight for. Odd.

They was some more sitting around in cells till there was some commotion in the front room. They caught the words "Ashbound" and "massacre" and "village" and "making for the border" and "need help." The Ashbound, of course, are crazy farkin' druids who believe civilization should be utterly destroyed, that the natural state of existence is as small hunter-gatherer groups. They don't use metal, they abhor arcane magic, and they occasionally burn villages and slaughter people.

And the Ashbound have found many a recruit from Cyran refugees. In fact, Constable Corleth has reason to believe that many of this particular group are Cyran.

The Constable, then, had a challenge on his hands. Here comes the speech.

"The smart thing to do...the smart thing would be to turn this over to the Deneith Marshals. There are more of them, and they're professionals. And if they decided to take an interest, they'd be very professional, gather a superior force, track them down and capture as many as possible alive. They'd bring them back to the city, parade them through the streets in chains, put them on trail, and hang them. Now, understand- these people are Ashbound. Once a person's gone that route, taken the Ritual of Ash, there's no more use capturing them then there is capturing a rabid dog. You can't heal them, you can't bring them back. They're gone.

But these people, some of them...they're Cyrans. Now I've shed all the tears I plan to on account of that country, and done all the fighting for it I can stomach. But that doesn't mean I didn't love it once. And when it's your own dog gone rabid, it's your responsibility to put it down."

Pause.

"I can call on 10 men. Of those 10, 2 have shot arrows at something not made of straw."

Pause.

"I'm going to go draw up some prisoner transfer paperwork. If the story you told me was false, well...you'll all just try to kill me the instant you get out of the city."

Paperwork was drawn. Derrin visited, cheerfully told them he hoped never to see any of them again, and disappeared. They were manacled and loaded into the wagon. Driven far. Much farther than before. They were let out at the side of the road, unchained, where they saw Constable Corleth and 2 other men mounted, with 3 spare mounts, loaded with the party's weapons and gear. The young lance-constable driving the wagon was given his story, and a heavy clout on the head to make it believable. They went on a hunt. A long hunt. Found the village; salted earth, a heap of dead bodies and burned houses. A longer ride, where they pretended not to see the border stones that showed they'd crossed into the Eldeen Reaches. Eventually the trail grew warm, and a small clearing was found with the temporary earthen huts and large firepit the Ashbound had created for themselves.

Blogger just stopped me from typing more, and it's late. I'll finish this post in the morning.

Meet an NPC: Gideon

2007-06-01T12:24:00.001-04:00

Disclaimer: Current players, I ask you please not to read this post. The game will be less fun for you if you do.

So, in an earlier post I promised a good "behind the scenes" glimpse at how I develop and use NPCs. I don't have a clear cut system, but I do try to obey the rules I set out earlier;

Make important NPCs cool and memorable, but not cooler than the PCs. Don't make them significantly more powerful than the PCs if they're going to be involved in combat with them. Don't make them be the hero unless you have to; you want the PCs to be heroes.

So, with those in mind, meet one of my NPCs, and the thought process that went into him. You all know I like to play paladins. And one of the things I like to do with them is strain the limits and boundaries of the class and it's alignment. Everyone tends to think Paladin=mounted holy knight with lance and heavy armor.

Well, what about an urban Paladin? One who does most of his work inside a city. Like, say, Sharn. Not much use for lances and horses on the crowded streets and floating cityscapes of the City of Towers.

Well, an urban paladin would need a different skill set, and a different role. Luckily, the Complete Adventurer has a pair of the best Prestige Classes WoTC has yet devised; the Shadowbane Stalker and Shadowbane Inquisitor. An "urban paladin," probably multiclassed (necessarily if you're going to take one of these PrCs) would feel something like these. So whether the PrC comes into play or not, we'll sort of use one as a goal. Probably the Inquisitor.

So, how do you make a multiclassed paladin/rogue and make it make sense? Well, as I said, I like to have a backstory for my NPCs, and in many cases, an NPC is a germ of an idea for a character I just haven't gotten the chance to play yet. As long as I rein in my desires as a player a bit, I can make him a fine fit for the campaign and a foil/aid/friend/ally/enemy of the PCs.

So, Gideon. Born in Thrane. Son of a Silver Flame clergyman (not necessarily a Cleric, with levels and spellcasting and all that). Rather devout, if not exceptionally (by Thranite standards, anyway). Was in training to head off to war, as were most young men, when the war ended, and his unit was disbanded without ever being activated, but it left him a basic familiarity with weapons, horses, training, etc. Wanted to see the wider world, however, and despite warnings about how it'll corrupt him, he sets off for Sharn, full of thoughts about the bigger world, and making it better.

One thing cities always need is warm bodies for the watch, right? And Sharn is the biggest city in the world, so a healthy young lad like Gideon can find work there, get some training, get a uniform, some respect, some coin in his pocket, a career. And Gideon, who is a smarter and more stalwart fellow than most, has the intelligence and the disposition to rise rather quickly and receive a bit of training to match his talents.

Meet Gideon, the 1st Level LG Rogue, Junior Inquisitive on the Sharn City Watch. Now, we're not done; that's not the Gideon the players will meet in a few sessions. There's more.

Gideon, being the unyielding LG sort, is not necessarily likely to get on all that well in the Sharn City Watch. No matter how competent he might be, being LG and unbuyable aren't going to endear him to some of the men he has to work with. Eventually, I figure, Gideon, perhaps after gaining a level or two, doing some good work, learning something about the city and the people, helping some folks out...is framed for corruption and tossed off the Watch in disgrace.

So what does Gideon do? He's started to build a life for himself, and the bastards took it away. He was doing good work. He was helping people. Now that's gone.

Or is it? Falling back on his faith, Gideon visits a Temple of the Silver Flame to pray for guidance.

And boy, does he ever get it. Receiving what he believes to be a vision of his future, Gideon sees himself, gleaming silver blade in hand, righteous anger on his face, helping and defending the people of Sharn like he has for the past couple of years, but doing it not just for them, but for the Flame.

Meet Gideon the 2nd Level Rogue/1st Level Paladin of Skyledge Investigations, Independent Inquisitive; people found, crimes investigated, for a reasonable price, barter accepted, payment plans available. Cheaper than Tharashk, less likely to forget about you than the Watch.

Ding! We have an NPC. Let's sketch out his stats:
Gideon's a big strong fellow, and smart and personable. Not the most dextrous or super sturdy. Remember that in my games, I tend to let players have high stats anyway; increases survivability, and besides...heroes are supposed to be exceptional.

Str:16 Dex:12 Con:12 Wis:12 Int:14 Cha:16 (around the # of points I prefer PCs to have in my campaigns- I run a high powered game. Not as high powered as some, mind you).

What feats must he have? Well, definitely Investigate. And probably Knightly Training if we're doing it by the book. Those are his two first-level feats. At third? Silver Smite seems a likely guess, since it's for Silver Flame Paladins, and an extra d6 of damage never hurts.

Skills: I preach maxing out, and I practice it as much as possible. He gets 8 as a rogue, +1 for human, +2 for Int, for a total of 11 maxxed out skills. Search, Sense Motive, Diplomacy, Spot, Listen, Intimidate, and Gather Info are absolute no brainers. Decipher Script is handy- but I don't think it makes sense, so it's out. He has military training from the past, so Ride is good. Knowledge Local, Sharn, only makes sense. Got two more. Hide and Move Silently are very handy, but do they make sense? I imagine Sharn Watch Inquisitives learn how to skulk. I don't think they learn how to open locks or disable devices, however. Gideon is not a dungeoneering rogue.

Okay, now all the math is basically done. How do you flesh it out? What sets him apart? Where might they meet him? Well, in his work, clearly. What does Gideon do to make ends meet when his one-man Inquisitive operation isn't raking in the cash? And, given that he's a Paladin, he isn't going to squeeze people for bills or demand retainer. He'll barter. He'll let them slide. And he'll need some kind of regular work. Not protection racket or strong-arm stuff, obviously, but some basic security work will probably do.

Who might need cheap but reliable security work? Who needs a guy who is untouchable, unbribeable, unflappable, might have a little magic healing on hand, won't steal or harm merchandise or skim cream? Who meets all those requirements and might be palatable to a Paladin who isn't under the watchful eye of a church hierarchy? The average merchant is going to go bargain-basement and figure theft and incompetence are expenses he can write off. The top flight merchants (Dragonmarked Houses) have in-house security. Ditto temples and banks. Who's left?

Did I hear anyone say "modest brothel?"

Think about it. Brothels are legal, for one, so he isn't breaking the law by being there. He's watching over people that probably need some protection, and maybe a little bit of soul-saving, so long as he isn't too obnoxious about it. He isn't going to harm them or steal them or be a pimp. Just sit in the bar with obvious arms and a steely eye for anyone thinking to make trouble.

Plus, I just really want to somehow force the PCs into making a brothel their erstwhile headquarters in Sharn and I'd like them to meet Gideon there. Heck, maybe he'll even have some half-assed crush on one of the girls there...no, I am NOT above a paladin-prostitute romance...and if he becomes the PCs ally, someone can lean on him that way. Why might they need him? Well, see the post on Session III below. They're going to need to investigate the people those statues were headed to, and who knows what else. They'll need someone who knows the city, perhaps someone with the "Investigate" feat, someone who isn't the Watch (the Watch won't touch either of the names the players have) and someone who isn't afraid of the Watch. Maybe someone with a grudge against the Watch.

I'd say Gideon fits that bill. He can also be a foil for the players if someone else hires him to come after them and he thinks the other hire is legit. Then maybe we do the "fought each other but banded together to go after our real enemy" bit. I love that bit. That bit works. It's a classic bit.

Anyway, Gideon can, I believe, do what I want NPCs to do; provide skills or knowledge the party doesn't have, but needs, be a unique and hopefully memorable character for them to meet and get to know and fight beside. And he isn't so powerful that he makes the PCs look silly. I can scale him up or down depending on their level when they meet him. And if he needs to kick a little ass, he'll kick a little ass, without overwhelming the PCs.

As for how I manage my NPCs, I use index cards. They're big enough to fit all the pertinent info on, and I usually try to scribble a quote or two the NPC is prone to using, as well as a descriptive word about their overall appearance, mien, demeanor, or presence. For Gideon; reserved. Calm. Strong. Don't really have a quote yet, but I'm leaning towards, "help you?" spoken neutrally and softly.

Other examples of these adjective/quote combos; Urik Rorham: businesslike. Unruffled. Alert. Quote: Always have two strings for your bow.
Derrin Leyn D'Sivis; cheerful. Nonthreatening. Quote: What service can House Sivis provide today?

Ya'll get the idea, I hope.

Session III

2007-05-29T12:12:00.000-04:00

With scheduling difficulties finally overcome, the players...all 3 of them! Nacho McChumpie has a name now!...managed to get together this Sunday night for some mayhem.

Kaloei and Sol were set to join an Orien caravan traveling from Fairhaven to Sharn, as asked by the mysterious Urik Rorham. Note, by the way, that Fairhaven to Sharn is a long way, especially by trade road. The caravan would be making many stops, bringing on new wagons and leaving others behind. Of particular note in this caravan was a small group from the Raincaller's Guild of House Lyrandar and a group from House Sivis, maintaining an appropriately gnome-sized wagon and serving as the mobile communications center by carrying a speaking stone.

The caravan was headed up by one Joreth d'Orien, an extremely well-dressed, extremely well-fed, extremely slimy sort. His head of security was Milaya d'Orien, and the players also met one Cyria Laiqua d'Lyrandar, who was traveling with the Raincallers.

The first several days were uneventful, until arriving at the town of Lathlear. A rather nondescript place, except that it is the home of a renowned Aundairian artist, the reclusive but brilliant sculptor Haradeen. The entire reason for the caravan coming to Lathlear, in fact, was to pick up his two newest pieces for transport to passage, where they would be taken by Lightning Rail to Sharn.

The two large crated statues were accompanied by their own security detachment, as well; a group of six, mixed of humans and half-orcs, led by one particularly enormous half-orc with grayish skin, keenly intelligent eyes, and an enormous longbow slung across his back. A few of them were sporting visible Dragonmarks, and it was assumed that they were a group of Tharashk mercenaries hired to provide security for the artwork.

That night there was to be a celebratory dinner on the greensward just outside the town. It wasn't every day, of course, that new works of Master Magecraft Sculptor Haradeen were unveiled. A large silk pavilion was erected, servants were liveried, etc. Due to introducing herself to the caravan master, Kaloei was invited and told she could, if she wished, bring along her 'retainers.' (Sol and Cyria were perfectly happy to melt into the background that way). Upon arriving, each guest was announced, and of course the leader of the Tharashk contingent was invited. And announced as Iyerke d'Tharashk.

Naturally, Sol and Kaloei remembered this name; it had been given to them by Urik Rorham as someone he believed connected to the rash of disappearances in Fairhaven. It being a party, there wasn't a whole lot they could do about it.

"Hello, Iyerke. Charmed. I'm Kaloei. Enjoying the wine? Kidnap anyone lately?"

See? It doesn't work.

At any rate, at the party, the new works by Master Haradeen were unveiled. The town of Lathlear itself had a few on display, including a prominent statue of Queen Aurala in the town square. They were quite lifelike. And the two statues newly unveiled were incredilby detailed. One was a farmer, good Aundarian type, wearing simple homespun and burlap and carrying a hoe slung over his shoulder. The other was a curious piece; a warrior, with shield and sword upraised, wearing Cyran livery and rank insignia. The sword itself looked so real a viewer might swear it would cut if touched.

Kal, Sol, and Cyria oohed and aahed over the statues appropriately. Also while at dinner they met the head of the caravan's Sivis detachment, Derrin Leyn D'Sivis, notably for his courtesy, erudition, and for being just about the only male at the party (besides Sol) who didn't stare at Kaloei's cleavage (remember the discussion below about being the rare zaftig elf), if only because he wasn't tall enough.

The next few days were more or less uneventful, with Sol offering his services for the caravan's security to Milaya d'Orien, especially as regarded the guarding of Haradeen's statues.

About halfway to Passage, there was some commotion one morning; one of the caravan's scout/sentries was found, about 1oo yards to the west, with his throat slit. Milaya, Sol, Cyria, Iyerke, and most of the other Tharashk mercenaries went to investigate. Neither Sol nor Iyerke were able to find any solid tracks leading away from the body, indicating the deed was done by someone with woodcraft.

Meanwhile, Kaloei had stayed behind with the bunk wagon they'd been staying in, which was on the east side of the caravan, near the wagon carrying the statues. She noticed, though it was nearing dawn, that it was suddenly much darker on that side of the caravan...as though, perhaps, a magical darkness was spreading from the treeline.

Then, suddenly, a group of nearly 30 riders burst from the treeline and began a made ride towards the wagon carrying the artwork. The alarm went up, but most of the guards- and the best of them- were on the west side scouring the woods for sign of who had killed their sentry.

As Kaloei watched, the riders immediately formed a wedge that was pointed directly at the wagon carrying the statues. They bore themselves with military precision and clearly had training; no ordinary bandits, these. Many of them were horse archers and began peppering the camp with arrows, working mostly as a kind of 'suppression' fire, trying to keep folks heads down. The Tharashk mercenaries, to their credit, immediately assumed firing positions around their wagon and began returning fire, but the two left behind were quickly cut down. Meanwhile, the group of six riders at the front of the wedge performed a running dismount, and stormed towards the wagon that was their clear target, swords drawn.

Milaya was the first to intercept them, 'bamf'ing into a position in front of the wagon. Iyerke, just on foot, wasn't far behind her, and began peppering the bandits with arrows from his enormous bow, though his aimed seemed off.

It figures; introduce a recurring villain and watch him completely crap out when it comes to combat.

Eventually Sol caught up and began hurling axes, then engaging in hand to hand. Kaloei had, in fine bard tradition, slunk away from the combat, but then found some courage (without any alcohol to hand, either- definitely a departure from true bardic form) and returned to engage the bandits with her trusty rapier.

Eventually, Milaya was felled by the man who seemed to lead the bandits, though he had help. Meanwhile, a group of horsemen had peeled off with unsaddled horses and seemed to be making to hitch them to the wagon to lead it off. Cyira then entered the fray and showed fine combat instincts, attempting to Entangle the bulk of the bandits, and she was in large part successful.

Kaloei and Sol joined together to try and guard the wagon holding the statues; two bandits managed to break down the door, but Sol dropped one with an axe to the skull, and Kaloei pursued the other to the interior, engaging him in a duel. Sol came face to face with the bandit leader, and they began fighting.

Curiously, as the bandits fought they often uttered short warcries, such as "for Cyre!" Sol eventually noticed that the leader was wearing Cyran insignia, of an elite unit known as the Queen's Blades. They spoke. The leader made some bold claims.

Namely that the statue in the wagon was, in fact, a petrified Cyran officer, their captain, and they were fighting to get him back in order to save him.

This revelation brought the fighting to a standstill, with Sol unwilling to attempt to kill his opponent, Milaya out of the fray, and neither side with a clear upper hand, as most of the guards had now been able to engage the attackers. An uneasy and undeclared truce was enacted.

The caravan master emerged and dismissed the Cyran's claims as ridiculous and unfounded. Sol asked if a wizard could be brought forth to prove or disprove. Joreth summoned the caravan's wizard. Milaya, healed of some of her wounds by the field medics, approached, as did Iyerke.

The first statue's crate was opened. All marveled at the detail of the Cyran warrior. Suddenly, Joreth reached, touched the statue with one hand, Iyerke with the other, and all 3 vanished.

There was stunned silence. The Cyrans were furious. Milaya was furious. The Cyrans retreated. Milaya told Sol that he and Kaloei were no longer welcome with the caravan, having aided and abetted bandits, and would be put off in Passage.

Cyria put in a call to her father, a highly placed Lyrandar diplomat, asking if bookings could be made for 3 on the Lightning Rail from Passage to Sharn. (Favored in House feat at work, for those keeping score at home). She got a message back that yes, it could be, but not in first class. It would do her good to mingle with the great unwashed.

Kal, Sol, and Cyria pondered things. Was the statue really a person? That'd be a great way to transport prisoners. Derrin Leyn D'Sivis came to talk with them. He was interested, as well. He didn't know much, of course, but he'd heard rumors about a half-orc matching Iyerke's description being wanted in many cities between Fairhaven and Sharn. He announced he'd be going out for a walk, and that he was a clumsy sort and may drop something.

He did. A small envelope, with one piece of paper; a copy of the bills of lading for the statues, and the names of who they were going to in Sharn. One to someone named Cavallah, the other to Lord Admiral Lyrien of the Lhazzar Principalities.

The caravan approaches Passage; the intrepid heroes await the Lightning Rail and Sharn.

Paladins are Lawful Good. That is all.

2007-05-09T23:37:00.000-04:00

Let me preface this with a few things; paladins are one of my favorite character classes to play in D&D. The allure of the class is, to me, to create a distinctive personality and background within a very rigidly defined archetype. That, and being able to whup ass on evil, in particular, better than anyone else. The paladin is a "fighter without bonus feats" against things like elementals, animals, and the like. But when fighting evil...a creature or person deliberately out to harm others...the paladin kicks ass above and beyond all others.

And when I play D&D, I want to play a hero. Usually. Playing evil characters tends to bring out facets of me I'd rather not acknowledge. Of course, any class can be a hero (excepting bards; nobody believes a bard can be a hero), but the thing about the Paladin is, he is destined to be. It isn't a choice, and it may not even be what he wants, but it is what he is on a more fundamental level than any other class.

Now, I've noticed a trend in recent supplements and such to introduce "variant" paladins. I don't necessarily have a problem with variations of paladin abilities, but most of these variations seem to be on the order of "letting people play a paladin that isn't LG." There's the CG paladin, the LE paladin, the CE paladin.

And that's all nonsense. Rot. Swill. Garbage. Stupid. Fluff. A CRUTCH FOR WEAK PLAYERS WHO CAN'T HANDLE THE GAME.

Ahem. Sorry. Was channeling Weird Pete for a second there.

Point is, Paladins are Lawful Good for a reason. For several reasons, in fact.

Let's start by examining the origins and meanings of the word "paladin." Without too much linguistic nonsense, paladin appears to have originated around 1595, referring in French literary romance to the 12 knights in attendance upon Charlemagne. Other less specific definitons; a paragon of chivalry, a determined advocate or defender of a noble cause...most of the rest of the definitions proceed from there.

Now, how does this relate to Paladins being Lawful Good only? Patience. We'll get there.

One of the arguments I often here for the variant alignment Paladins is, "Well, other gods have champions, too." Sure they do. They're called CLERICS. Or, for that matter, rangers or wizards or druids. If you want to become a super-duper CG champion, you work toward the "Holy Liberator" PrC.

Furthermore, folks, Chaotic Goodness is not a cause. Chaotic Good is the alignment that says "don't start none, won't be none," or "stay away, leave me alone, let me go my way." Mal Reynolds of Firefly is the perfect example of CG. He follows his own needs and conscience as the situation dictates, but isn't really out to change the world (not usually). He's a good man, sometimes even a very good one, but he's not a Paladin, and he'd laugh if you suggested he was. Chaotic Good is, by and large, a reactive sort of alignment, and Paladins are by their nature an active class. Their mandate is to actively hunt down evil and eradicate it. Chaotic Good characters aren't generally out to do that. They're individualists. Not crusaders.

By extension, CG gods aren't the kind who'd want their followers out championing causes, are they? I mean, combating evil where you find it, sure...but are they likely to grant significant power, like the paladin wields? I don't know, but I don't think so. Again, it's a matter of active vs. reactive. Chaotic Good beings react to threats or perceived injustices or crowding of individual freedoms; are those the kinds of things a Paladin does? Well, yes, but not as a cause. I just don't see it as possible to define "Chaotic Goodness" or CG deities as "a cause" or

As for Lawful Evil paladins? Still not buying it. Lawful Evil is not so much a cause as it is an alignment geared towards acquiring personal wealth and power. But again, anybody can do that. You don't need special abilities to make you a dominating conqueror, not really. And there's the Blackguard PrC to cover the situation of the "anointed of a dark god." And I have no problem with the Blackguard PrC filling that role, and it makes sense to me, for several reasons. For starters, dark gods aren't, I don't think, likely to grant those kinds of powers to someone who hasn't gone out and proven themselves devoted to the cause; I don't see 1st level characters in the "blackguard" role. Secondly, there are specific rules about the PrC that pertain to Fallen Paladins who take up the role, and that makes all kinds of sense to me. Nothing a dark god likes better than stealing the champion of his enemy.

I don't see a CE god granting those sorts of powers lightly, either, which is why I also don't buy the CE paladin variant. Look, imagine a dark god, d&d style. They are an eternal and inexorable and ineffable expression of all that is evil in the nature of sentient beings. They aren't going to share their power lightly, not without tremendous consequences to the sharee.

Contrast this to your typical LG god. They're exactly the opposite, and, I feel, much more likely to grant powers to someone based on their potential. Someone has to go and combat the evil out there, right? And while the representatives of LG gods can spend the time and energy to train and shepherd and educate those prospective, the deity in question needs to equip them with the ability to do what they are Called to do. I just think it's hard to make an argument that someone is Called to do evil in the way a Paladin is Called to do good. Most evil arises out of self-interest, of a desire for more personal wealth/power/magic, whatever, and rarely does it rise (or sink) to the level of proselytizing and actively seeking to spread the word and 'erdicate good.' Sure, there might be some few truly, truly devoted who act in that manner, but...are they going to go seek out and train their replacements, people they'd have to share power with?

A keen example here is the Sith (chorus of boos from all of you prequel haters; just trust me). There are 2 at a time, because otherwise, they get overwhelmed with backstabbing, plotting, assassinations and the like, and nothing gets done. The way a new Sith advances is by killing one up top. Don't share power. Don't make it easy for your replacements. Is this the kind of environment that fosters lots of individuals with potential to become great champions of evil, the way most Campaign Settings seem to picture Paladinhood?

No. But it is a way to foster the role of something like the Blackguard, a champion of evil who has proved himself by...being a champion of evil. I have no problems with the concept of an "anti-paladin" being applied to a PrC. But not a base class.

There's a game balance issue here, too. Paladins (along with Monks) get the most class-centric abilities, things no one else can effectively do. Most of these, for the Paladin, come at relatively early levels. By level 6, a paladin has gotten all of the abilities he's going to get; Aura of Good, Smite Evil 2/day, Divine Grace, Lay on Hands, Turn Undead, Special Mount, and Remove Disease 1/day. If you don't want the remove disease too badly, you can just go to 5. If the paladin doesn't have severe alignment restrictions, then min-maxxers might just take 5 levels and never go back. Some of them will do that anyway. But if they're a Chaotic Good Paladin, they can go and take levels in, say, Bard or Barbarian. The former, being so Charisma based, stacks especially well in a numbers way, but doesn't make any damn sense in a roleplay manner.

Finally, there's the challenge of playing a Paladin. Making a Paladin CG removes the very challenge that makes playing a unique Paladin so compelling. Look, I've played many a CG character in my life, but let's be honest; it's the easiest good alignment to play well, and might be the easiest in the game to effectively manage. You don't have carte blanche, but it's close.

The thing is, most people picture the Paladin as "Lawful Stupid," inevitably losing their life in a foolish cause, or being a prig who has no sense of humor and lives on bread and water. The fun of playing a Paladin is challenging that assertion. Lawful Good doesn't offer nearly as much latitude as anything else does, but that doesn't mean you can't have personality or that you have to be a stiff-necked prig. For example, one Paladin I played for a long time spent a fair amount of free time at a brothel. Not as a customer, mind you, nor in a paid position, but he hung around because, fairly often, the women there needed protection, or a little 'cure disease,' or someone to help them out in a number of ways. Maybe what they were doing wasn't legal, but the goddess he followed stressed caring for the younger, the weaker, those without means to protect themselves, etc. He saw that he was doing that, didn't accept money for it, didn't sleep with any of the girls (though Paladins don't have to be celibate, far from it) and all in all, helped make it so that the lives the women in that brothel had were better than they otherwise would've been. Maybe he preached a little bit...if he saw an opening...but not too much.

Anyway, enough character reminiscence. The point; Paladins are Lawful Good for a reason. For several reasons. They shouldn't be anything else.

How did it come to this?

2007-05-07T19:23:00.000-04:00

I quote from the AD&D Dungeonmaster's Guide, page 20, the rules for creating new character classes:

"[A] factor to consider...is whether a new class is really needed. Some players want to create a class for every profession or ability--jesters, witches, vampire hunters, mountaineers, etc. They forget that these are really roles, not classes.
What is a viking but a fighter with a certain outlook on life and warfare? A witch is really nothing but a female wizard. A vampire hunter is only a title assumed by a character of any class who is dedicated to the destruction and elmination of those loathsome creatures...
Before creating a character class, stop and ask yourself, "Is there already a character class that can fill the niche?" Think of ways an existing class could fulfill the desired goal through role-playing and careful choice of proficiencies. A mountainer could easily be a fighter or anger born and bred in hte mountains...[c]learly there is no need for a mountaineer class."

A quick look at the number of "base" classes in 3.5 reveals upwards of 60, perhaps more than 70. The veteran player can only respond with a hearty "what the hell?"
The sad fact is, most if not all of those base classes are covered by applying a concept to one of the core classes. As I see it, all you need are the 11 old standbys, the psionic classes (if you choose to use psionics, which will be another post) and the artificer. Perhaps one or two of the others, but I'm not buying that idea cheap. Most, if not all of these classes, violate the exact statements I quoted above; don't make a class for every role or title.
Let's take a look at a few; witch, ninja, samurai, warmage, dread necromancer, swashbuckler, spellthief. What is a witch but a female wizard, or sorceror, or for that matter, a druid, or a druid/sorceress or druid/wizard? A ninja is a rogue who goes nuts with the Hide/Move Silently and picks up some Craft: Alchemy. A samurai is a fighter (or, for that matter, a paladin or ranger or monk or any combination of the above) who is Lawful, and sworn to a lord/code of behavior; a great example of this (well, ok, not so great, but still) is Miko from the Order of the Stick webcomic. She's a monk/paladin but goes by the title "Samurai." No need for a class, nor even the prestige class.
Continuing the trend; what's a warmage but a wizard who specializes in useful battlefield spells? A "dread necromancer" is a bit of a fancy title for a freakin' base class, init?
"Oh, you're a dread necromancer, are you?" says Joe the 1st level fighter, sneering.
"Why yes, yes I guuuuhrk," says Jalortho the now dead dread necromancer, realizing with his last thought that "dread" should be a title only applied to people who've freakin' earned it, which excludes all 1st level chumps. Meanwhile, Joe cleans his sword and rifles Jalortho's pockets.
A swashbuckler is a rogue, or bard, or pirate, or fighter, or ranger, who arranges his skills, fighting style, background, and attitude a certain way. That's all. It doesn't need a class.
And don't get me started on the variant paladins. That's a whole other can of worms I will address in time. Suffice to say, Paladins are lawful good, period, end of story. I will explain why they should be another time.

EDIT:
I realize that 3.x is a new edition of the game, and many years removed from the quote I opened this post with. But I don't think that changes anything. The point is still valid; 3.x keeps violating some of the best principles of AD&D. Now, don't get me wrong; 3.x is a better system. I don't deny that. I don't see why the principles behind things couldn't have been the same, but they aren't. It used to be, "If you don't like a rule, or have trouble interpreting it, or want to change it, go ahead." The Golden Rule was: there are no rules. Now, if you have trouble understanding a rule, you go read "Ask the Sage" or any of the online FAQS, and if you ignore the Sage's advice (most of which I think is egregiously stupid, especially in regards to PrCs, but I'll address that later) then you draw the wrath of rules lawyers! Which is why I don't want rules lawyers at my table. I said it before, I'll say it again; Skip Williams isn't going to come to your table to audit you and then decide to take your books away.

Thoughts About Skills and Skill Points

2007-05-03T21:16:00.000-04:00

Ok, so ever since the first session of this new campaign(see details below) I've been thinking about the role of skills in D&D, and ultimately, whether there are just enough skill points going around for everyone; after all, nobody in the party (granted, it is only a party of two) knew how to swim or use rope.

Now, before anyone gets their nuts in a knot, I'm not just going to start handing out skill points (and jeez, anyone who has played in one of my campaigns ought to know I don't just hand stuff out).

First of all, I think the skill point system is one of the best innovations in D&D 3.x- and for those of us who played AD&D, or old Basic or 1st Edition, it is an innovation. Back in the day, you had non-weapon proficiencies and you liked them. And you were just as good a basketweaver, or tracker, or leatherworker, or firebuilder (yes, there was a proficiency for firebuilding) at 1st level as you were at 43rd. Remind me why we ever thought AD&D was a good system?

But let's look at this from the inside, with my favorite class and yours, the Ranger. Let's call him Bob.

Bob is a half-elf with, we'll say, an above average intelligence of 12. This gives him a +1 bonus to skill points. As a ranger, he starts with 6x4; add to this his Int. bonus and this means, basically, Bob gets to pick seven skills if he wants to max them out. Bob should max out his skills, because he wants to be useful to the party beyond 1st level; spread those skill points out too much and he won't actually be good enough at any of his chosen skills to succeed at any checks.

So what skills should Bob take? He gets seven choices; he has seventeen class skills to choose from. Let's say Bob wants to be a real "nature-y" ranger. Here are the skills he definitely ought to take:
Survival (a no brainer- a ranger pretty much has to have this)
Knowledge, Nature- (I've never been too clear on why this isn't covered by Survival, but I suppose there are arguments to be made that they are separate skills)
Knowledge, Geography (Bob is a traveler, after all)
Handle Animal (if Bob ever wants to train his animal companion)

That's 4 skills gone; Bob wants to take advantage of the Ranger's ability to hide and move silently, so
Hide
Move Silently

That's 6. He gets one more pick. He doesn't want to be easily snuck up on, so he can take Listen or Spot. One or the other, if he wants to max it out. Say he splits 'em up, since he's a half-elf, and he gets a +2 to spot and listen anyway, that ameliorates it somewhat. I strongly advise not splitting skills up, but there you go. Now, let's look at all the things Bob the Ranger can't do;

Climb, Jump, Use Rope, Swim, Know about Dungeons (Dungeoneering) , Search, Heal, or Ride.

Sure, he can try to do them, but he has no expertise in any of them. A ranger that can't climb, jump, or swim is kind of a lame ranger, isn't he? I mean, isn't that part and parcel of the ranger archetype; Aragorn, Hawkeye from Last of the Mohicans, Drizzt Do'Urden- they could Climb, or Swim, or Use Rope, right?

Let's say Bob even has a super Int, 18. That gets him 3 more skills to pick from. Say he takes Climb, Jump, and Swim, to complete his vision of what a ranger ought to be. Fine, that seems more or less complete.

Here's the point I'm getting to; shouldn't a Ranger be able to track stuff (Survival) move undetected in the wilderness (Hide, Move Silently) be aware of his surroundings (Spot, Listen) overcome natural obstacles (Jump, Climb, Swim) know what animal/monster is what (Knowledge: Nature), know where in the world he is (Knowledge: Geography) and maybe have another skill or two for color&personality (Craft: Leatherworking or Bowyer- making him more self-sufficient, or Use Rope or Profession Sailor). So, even if you exclude the "color" skills that's 11 skills that a Ranger probably should have: Survival, Spot, Listen, Hide, Move Silently, Knowledge: Nature&Geography, Jump, Climb, and Swim.

The only ranger that's able to effectively get all those skills at 1st level is a human with an 18 Intelligence. I'm all for concepts and RP, but unless I rolled God's own stats, I'm not going to put an 18 into Intelligence when I'm creating a Ranger. A Rogue, maybe...but not a Ranger.

Speaking of Rogues, let's take a look at them. The ultimate D&D skill user, right? Okay, say you want to make the typical guild thief Rogue. A staple of D&D games and fantasy literature since time immemorial. Or, at least, since Fritz Leiber.

So, you want to be a guild rogue. You're a halfling. You have 8 Skill Points, an Intelligence of 14, letting you pick 10 skills to max out. You've simply got to have the following: Hide, Move Silently, Search, Disable Device, Open Lock, Sleight of Hand, Climb, Spot, and Listen. That's 9. Want to know what your plunder is worth? Take Appraise. Aaaaaand you're done. You can't talk your way out of trouble. You can't use Decipher Script (and you're one of only 2 classes that can take it in the first place), you don't know much about your city (no Knowledge: Local or Gather Info) Use Rope, break out of the hoosegow (Escape Artist) you can't duck and dive in combat (Tumble)...it goes on.

Now, it's hard to make a case that a Rogue doesn't get enough skills, but I think the point remains; the archetypal things we expect a certain kind of rogue to be able to do are beyond the reach of the average rogue. Or even the above average rogue, usually. Is this appropriate for a game of heroic fantasy?

So, how does this work out for other classes? Rather less well. Many of them don't necessarily need lots of skills, but the thing is, skills are one of the quantifiable ways D&D offers, a system, to really customize your character and add depth, personality, color, and backstory. Maybe your Sorceror was an apprentice Bowyer when he accidentally incinerated the bowstave he was working on, which set him off to try and discover something about himself, and this led him to a life of adventuring. So you want to put ranks into Craft: Bowyer and keep up with the skill; make bows for the party, or to pick up some extra cash. Why not? It adds color and personality and depth; all the things skills can do.

But a Sorceror gets 2 skill points, plus his Int. Say you're a human. As a Sorceror, you probably don't have a stellar intelligence; maybe a 12? That'll give you 4 skill points if you're maxing out. As a spellcaster, you've got to have Concentration and Spellcraft, and probably Knowledge: Arcana. So then you can take your skill for color, background, and depth, or you can take Bluff (why do Sorcerors get Bluff and not Diplomacy or Gather Information or Intimidate or any of the other Charisma-based skills?) or Craft: Alchemy, which might be more advantageous for you.

Now, I don't want to just derail into bitching about how D&D doesn't support roleplay. As long as I'm GMing (God willing, a long time) there will be roleplay at the table. I'm not so worried about that, really. I'm worried about giving the characters a fair shake and making sure their character matches their vision. What's great about the skill system in 3.x is the widespread customization it gives you, not only in min-maxxing terms, but in character development terms (which should be at least as important).

So, what to do? Is the skill system completely fine? Should I stop my bitching? Bump up every class's number of skill points by 1 or 2? Should there be fewer skills? I mean, you can easily make a case for lumping Climb, Balance, and Jump into one skillset, and perhaps the same with Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate, or Listen and Spot. And sure, there are feats you can take to add to certain skills- but who is going to waste a feat on skills when you can do much cooler things with them?

So, enough of my yakkin'. Comments away.

Some Thoughts on DMing

2007-04-29T17:59:00.000-04:00

Ok, because my players read this, I'm not going to go completely behind the curtain, but want to shed a little bit of light on the things I try to do as a DM. For current players, it might take some fun out of the game if you read this post, so you might want to skip it. I rather recommend that you do.

1. Don't give the players time to settle down. Force them to make their decisions quickly. See below, where "Urik Rorham" made Kal and Sol decide right now whether to accept his offer.

2. Force conflicts regarding their beliefs, associations, and allegiances upon them. See below; Kaloei d'Phiarlan has agreed to work for/with Urik in direct opposition to orders from her father, who is also her superior within the house. Which allegiance will win in the end, house, or country? (If, indeed, Urik IS representing Aundair. He says he is. He hasn't proved a thing.)

3. Make your NPCs memorable and cool, and even let them be heroic, but don't make them cooler than the PCs, and don't let them outshine the PCs. If you need to bring an NPC in as the cavalry in order to save the day and prevent the dreaded TPK, you should only do that if you have to.

4. By the same token, I strive to make my NPCs memorable and worthy of the PC's time and interest; I come up with backgrounds, motivations, plans, families, skeletons-in-the-closet, etc., for my NPCs just as if they were a PC I was going to play (the important ones, anyway). I may do this after they've entered the game; many just start as a name I tossed out there. But once you've got all that stuff, it makes the character that much more interesting for you to play, and for your PCs to play with. I'd talk more about this, but I think I'd like to later on devote an entire post to NPC making and keeping (and recycling- once you have a good character in the bag, never be afraid to bust him out for a different campaign, group, world, setting, etc).

5. Make the players believe that you don't pull your punches or fudge your die rolls, even if you occasionally do. They aren't heroes without the serious threat of danger and death. Make them believe that you and your monsters and evil NPCs are that threat.

6. By extension, don't be afraid to wax a PCs if you have to. See that whole "threat of death" thing. If a character does something monumentally stupid, fails to prepare, or gets overconfident, he should face the consequences. This is a hard line to walk; kill too many characters and your players will stop caring about them. If your players believe that you'll never kill a character, they'll know that no matter what they do...no matter what risk they take, what corners they cut, or mistake they make...they're deathproof, and it won't matter.

7. By further extension, I believe that the game...and me, as the GameMaster...should reward risk-taking. The characters should be heroes. Heroes are risk-takers. Heroes do foolishly brave things because they're the only people who can, or because it's the right thing to do, or because they jolly well feel like it. Popular culture examples of foolish risk-taking fantasy/sci-fi heroes abound; Mal Reynolds of Firefly, Han Solo, and Captain Jack Sparrow are just three of the most prominent, but hell...even that whole "Fellowship of the Ring," we'll march right into the enemy's teeth to destroy his super-weapon thing was pretty damn foolish, wasn't it? And it's the undisputed archetype of the epic, party-dynamic fantasy story/campaign. The point is, let your players succeed when they attempt something whacky and foolhardy, so long as they do so with the proper intentions, motivations, and goals.

8. If you're playing an "heroic" game (and I prefer to, as a GM and a player), in order for your players to be heroes, evil has to be evil. Evil with a capital 'E.' Evil may do any of the following, and should: kill, rape, maim, steal, kidnap, bribe, cheat, torture, and lie. And they shouldn't just do that to anyone; they should kill or kidnap people the PCs hold dear. They should try to arrange confrontations on their own time, their own ground, in their favor. They should tell huge and horrendous lies. They should steal from the vulnerable. They should never hesitate to be absolutely as evil as you can make them. Employ dark magic. Make pacts with demons. Use vile magic items. Torture a PC or prominent NPC if they get the chance. But they shouldn't do it without purpose; all these acts should be done to advance some agenda, unless you're villain is just some crazed madman, in which case he might very well act randomly. The bigger the villain, the bigger the hero who finally brings him down.

I think that's a good start at a look at my thought process as the DM. Please share your own thoughts.

To Mini or not to Mini?

2007-04-29T17:29:00.001-04:00

The way Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 is designed, you are clearly expected to play with miniatures. It is widely believed, as well, that the next version of D&D will be a minis-based board game with no roleplay content of any kind supported. Some argue that's already what it is.

I say, and I think it seems self-evident, that that is entirely up to the GM and the players; roleplay IS up to you, and the game is what you make it. No ruleset destroys roleplay unless you let it. There is roleplay at my table; it is part and parcel of the game. Witness, below, the description of Session 2, wherein no combat happened, pure roleplay, investigation, legwork, discussion, etc.

However, the question I really want to examine here; is it worth including minis in the game? I say, so long as you're careful with it, miniatures can add a dimension that actually makes the game run smoother. If you've got a battlemat, mini use eliminates the questions over space, facing, distance, and settles the "my character couldn't have been effected by that fireball!" argument once and for all. The trick is to not let mini use get out of control.

There is also the fact that minis get expensive. I'm sure Wizards of the Coast touts that their minis are a cheap alternative to the old classic metal figs made by companies like Reaper. They're plastic, they're already painted, fully assembled; play right out of the box. However, with Wizards D&D minis, you have to buy blind, and they're collectible. So if you really need a beholder mini for an upcoming game, you better just keep buying booster packs until you find one. Magic: The Gathering is clearly the worst thing that ever happened to gaming; once you make something collectible and you suck your public in, you can really get them over the barrel.

Of course, there are other options; many companies still make metal minis, and the paints, and you can still go that route. There's also sculpy, the "clay" stuff that you can easily sculpt into the rough size/shape of odd monsters (and, if you desire, bake in the oven to make permanent, then paint- no sorting through $80 worth of booster packs to find a beholder). So, personally, I think as time goes on in this campaign, we're going to add minis for large-scale combat, to more easily keep track of the things minis help you with.

One of the things minis can hurt, though, besides the wallet, is the imagination. The reason D&D, and RPGs in general, work better at the table with other players than on a computer screen, whether in MMO or single-player format, is that the table game doesn't place limits on your imagination. In a video game, your character is defined for you; the boundaries are set by the graphical representations the game makes. Sure, you can customize to an extent, both visually and with the numbers, but not nearly as much as you can in a tabletop game. You can imagine plenty more than any computer game can come up with. Not just as regards what your character looks like, but his/her gear, family, background, attitudes, preferred tactics, signature moves, witty lines, quotes, etc. Computer games are not going to let you do all of that. You might want your character to have a particular haircut, meaningful tattoos, a certain motif to their weapons and gear, a personal sign in the spells they cast, a particular style of singing or playing the lute or the bagpipes. In a tabletop game, you can do all that. The limit is only your own imagination.

Minis can change that; once you've taken something cast in tin or pewter, you've defined it, and in defining it you've limited it. You can search high and low for the perfect mini to represent your character, but chances are you won't find one. You'll find one that's close, but not perfect. And then, forever, your character looks like the mini, and not necessarily how you imagined him. Unless, of course, you have access to sculpting tools, clay, pewter, and casting facilities, in which case, you can make whatever mini you jolly well please. In that case, F you.

In summary, the point is, minis can help the game flow easier, but they can damage the imagination involved by placing limitations on it.

Session II

2007-04-29T17:29:00.000-04:00

Session 2- April 28, 2007

Disclaimer: Some of you reading this may recognize certain names; if I have stolen a name from you, rest assured I know I have, and I use it for an NPC because I like how the name matches the race/character type. If you recognize the name as an NPC or PC of mine from a previous campaign...as you no doubt will with two, in particular, that are mentioned in this post...please do not make comments revealing what you know about the characters attached to those names, since my current players don't know anything about them. And, for my current players, I am not just re-treading an old campaign, but I am using elements and plot-threads I've used before, to see how they play out with a different party and different circumstances.

No massive run-on sentences this time, I promise.

As you may recall from the last post, the party had subdued the human man known as Garth of Thaliost, and his elven companion, who remained unnamed. A thorough search had turned up two sets of ID papers for the woman, one blank, but still notarized by House Sivis, making it a felony in most of Khorvaire. The second named her as Kaloei d'Phiarlan, which we remember is the name of one of our intrepid heroes.

After thoroughly tying up their unconscious foes (a task made more difficult by the utter lack of "Use Rope" skill amongst the party) the party gained the following important tidbits from Garth; a finely crafted light crossbow, a pair of plain daggers, three vials of unidentified fluids, a key (hrmm) and assorted scraps of paper written in cipher.

Coded papers mean the bard's time to shine! Bring on that "Decipher Script" check.

Oh. What's that? You rolled a 3. Back to utter uselessness for you, lute-plucker!

All Kaloei was able to discern from the papers was that they represented correspondence between Garth and someone with a "Y" figuring prominently in his name. A thorough search of the barge commenced, uncovering a sizable smuggler's compartment with an assortment of goods typical of the kind smuggled out of Thrane (exotic peppers, silver, artwork) as well as a locked strongbox. Hmm.

As Kal and Sol discuss just who is going to attempt to open that box with the key they found, the party is struck by how desperately they need a rogue. Then they realize that with the key, a trap probably wouldn't go off anyway. (I let them off easy- what kind of paranoid operator keeps his strongbox trapped to the point that the traps have to be disarmed even when he uses a key? Not the kind who gets taken down by 1st level adventurers, that's what kind). Inside the strongbox were the following; 3 stacks of freshly minted Thranite platinum, a small sack with 5 red gems, apparently rubies, and a piece of paper. On the paper? Six names, with a line drawn across the first 3, and the last:

Aldaryn ir'Mentir

Lhas Terask

Vidania Acker

Pietra of Whiteroof Ward

Riann Nagel

Agate Corleis

Further interrogation of Garth reveals little; his female companion is named Elazarre, but that's all he knows about her, except that he was ordered to aid her however was necessary. Seems he was really a bagman, there to meet with a contact named "Iyerke," feed him names, and pay him off. (Ah, the lowly bagman; is there anyone more vulnerable, less capable, and less appreciated in the shady world of schemes and plots? I think not).

With night now firmly settled on Fairhaven (and nursing serious wounds) Sol and Kal decide to drag their captives off to the nearest Watch station. A bored Watch Corporal on desk duty, named Bacher, is suddenly overwhelmed by the actual apprehension of criminals and presentation of evidence (Garth as a smuggler, Elazarre as a forger). What Sol and Kal failed to take into account was the fact that Soledyn doesn't have ID papers...which means the Watch is obligated to detain him and attempt to establish his identity (I just love it when players stumble into something like that; it's a free license to interrupt their plans). Fortunately for him, there is an Aerenal Embassy and he is a member of the Deathguard with a strong family history; an envoy is dispatched to that Embassy to see if identity can be established.

Luckily for him, within a couple of hours a representative of the Deathguard...the equivalent of a high-ranking NCO (Elves don't have sergeants, right? I mean, it just doesn't sound right. An elvish sergeant? Gnomes, maybe. Halflings? Possibly. Dwarves? Absolutely. Dwarves are perfect sergeants, born to it. But elves? Picture R. Lee Ermey, only ethereally beautiful, pointed ears, flowing hair, spewing curses..."I didn't know they stacked dragon-shit so high in Aerenal"...it just doesn't work) named Ederrion Jhaelian shows up. Tall fellow. Thin. Masked. Armed. Spooooooky.

He points out that Soledyn can prove his identity very simply; Kal averts her eyes, there is some rustling as Sol pulls down the straps of his pack armor, and Ederrion goes away satisfied, claiming he will send over a representative of House Sivis to draw up identity papers for Soledyn, and that he'll start issuing him orders. After all, four years isn't all that long for the elves, and Sol is still a member of the Deathguard.

Eventually, after repeating their story several times, Sol and Kal are allowed to leave the Watch house, but told to stay in the city, and leave an address they can be contacted at. Giving the Cask and Flagon as their address, off they go to investigate.

Then, remembering they're injured, they seek out a House Jorasco enclave, negotiate the price of simple healing and cots for the night (ten gold apiece- two of their "liberated" platinum coins) and then they rest. Well, rest like elves, which is to say, float above the covers in the lotus position, then wake up with perfect hair and bright eyes, refreshed, ready to face the day. Go team Elf!

Finally, all healed up, they set off to investigate. First up is figuring out just who are these people on the list and how to track them down. Seeing as how they were still close to Whiteroof Ward, they decide to go ahead and investigate the name "Pietra of Whiteroof Ward."

Deciding the best place to start is at a local joint for breakfast, they make discreet inquiries. One nat 20 on a Gather Info check later (plus the glint of ready coin) and a waitress is telling them what she knows of Pietra of Whiteroof Ward; a half-elf of Fairhaven, of the itinerant river-gypsy half-elves, she was barely more than a child when, "ten or twelve years ago," her family's boat went up in flames. There were only a few survivors, but the girl was left without family. A hired hand, a dwarf by the name of Duvrin, was given stewardship and custody over the girl, and the last anyone heard, the two of them had set off to Sharn.

Ten years makes for a cold trail, but it was about the best they came up with. The only other info they came up with regarded Lhars Terask. A veteran of the Last War, he disappeared a scant few weeks ago. People he knew him, including Torth, the owner of the Cask and Flagon, say he came back from the war a bit cracked. Big deal; lots of vets came back from the war cracked. But apparently there were a few incidents around his neighborhood, of people, especially kids who though it a fine prank to sneak up on the veteran whose nerves were shot, becoming absolutely terrified of him. When he disappeared, not too many people were asking questions.

On to the Cask and Flagon to see what became of their first captive, the changeling thug from the Dark Daggers. Turns out that the gnome bagpipe player who shares the stage with Kaloei, name of Flimble, went ahead and took said thug home, back to Kreelo, the leader of the Dark Daggers. His reasoning, to Kaloei, was that she oughtn't burden herself with the emnity of people like Kreelo. And, he brought back a message; the Dark Daggers were working with Garth purely as a matter of smuggling, offering their help and taking their cut. They had no interest in drawing the emnity of a Dragonmarked house, and the thug who signed on to do so would be dealt with. Satisfied with that explanation (and looking a little odd at Flimble, who they had previously known to just be an innocuous little pipe player, but was now dealing with criminal gangs and positively dripping with weaponry) they sought to do some more investigating, but were then summoned off to the enclave of house Phiarlan. Kaloei's father, it appeared, wanted a word with them.

And he did have a word with them. Several words. The Watch had informed house Phiarlan of the assault upon one of their heirs. Kaloei was summarily bidden to return to the house enclave, to either teach or perform with a Phiarlan-approved troupe, and to quit her obligation to Torth forthwith.

So, naturally, she went back to the Cask and Flagon to play her lunchtime set. And play she did, well enough to earn a few silver. During her performance, though, two figures slipped into the bar; Corporal Bacher, and an unfamiliar one. Dressed in fine but plain clothing, visibly armed with a longsword, with a businesslike air about him, the man introduced himself to Kaloei as Urik Rorham. Not a Watchman, though Corporal Bacher clearly deferred to him. He requested Kaloei speak with him, and, no stranger, perhaps, to the needs of discretion, Torth dismissed all customers from the area of the bar (following the old D&D rule that all tavern owners are retired soldiers/adventurers, Torth is a veteran with an old but well-maintained bastard sword hung over the bar, so people listen when he coughs) . His interest lay in her and her friend's apprehension of Garth of Thaliost. And where was her friend, one Soledyn Lumenars (wisely, Sol had vanished into a corner of the inn)? Well, at any rate; Garth was a known associate of a person Urik was interested in, one Iyerke d'Tharashk. This Iyerke was, he went on to say, perhaps connected to the disappearance of some Aundairian citizens, but he had as yet been unable to convince the Sentinel Marshals to look into the matter. Kaloei reacted to the mention of disappearances visibly, especially once Urik dropped some names; Aldaryn ir'Mentir, Lhas Terask, Vidania Acker, Agate Corleis. With keen senses (and a high sense motive check!) Urik pressed the point; what did Kaloei know?

At this point, Sol and Kal decided to come clean; they showed Urik the list, they explained what they'd found and how and why. Urik Rorham explains that he is in need of some assistance; that while he serves the best interests of Aundair, his resources are not without limits, and what he'd very much like is for someone to take a trip to Sharn and see if they can track down this Pietra of Whiteroof Ward, and perhaps determine what connects her to the other names on the list, and why Iyerke and Garth were interested in her. He knew of an Orien caravan leaving in the morning, and could arrange passage, if they agreed right now. He'll give them the name of a contact in Sharn, and arrange for them to keep him informed via Sivis messaging services; there'd be a Sivis detachment with the caravan.

They agreed. The caravan leaves when next we meet.

Meet the Party/Session 1

2007-04-21T21:55:00.000-04:00

As stated above, the campaign launched today, April 21, 2007. Let's meet the party.

Kaloei Tialaen d'Phiarlan

The rare zaftig elf (5'1", 128lbs- that's random height&weight generation for you. If I may digress, those kinds of dimensions on an elf with an 18 charisma? What kind of measurements might we be looking at here? Purely an intellectual exercise, you understand. Discuss) and a proud scion of House Phiarlan. A student of the Demesnes of Song and Memory, the latter in her lifelong home of Fairhaven, the capital of Aundair, Kaloei has recently declared her adolescent "independence" by landing a gig at a local veteran's bar, The Cask and Flagon. It pays in room, board, and the occasional tip earned by her stirring renditions of The Fall of Thaliost, a poignant Aundairian ballad paying tribute to the city and lands lost to Thrane in the Last War. It doesn't pay well (total haul to date: 7 silver, 8 copper) but it is a gig. And what more can any musician ask for than a regular gig?

Soledyn "Sol" Lumaenars

Aereni Elf, Deathguard Ranger, proud son of a family full of "Seekers of the Light," which is to say, Aereni Paladins. Wields a mean handaxe, one pair at a time, and if he needs to whup on some Karnathi Skeletons, he just flips them over and wields their heavily weighted ends as clubs (sure, it's not in the rules, but it was such a cool idea I said why the hell not?). And whup up on some Karnathi Skeletons he has, as Sol spent his time in the Last War on the Cyre/Karnathi border sending some undead minions back to the rest they'd been denied. He managed to be just over the border in the Nightwood, patrolling, when the Mourning came. His squad...including his sister Leida...weren't so lucky. After a fruitless eighteen months roaming in and out of the borders of the Mournland, Sol has taken to wandering, hoping to catch any word of his former squadmates. If, beneath the crude leather armor vest he wears, there are the blackened, angry edges of what appears to be a scar on his shoulder...one that doesn't change, or heal...well, he's not talking about it.

Nacho McChumpie

This will remain the name of the third character...rumored to be a druid, possibly of House Lyrandar...until such time as said druid is actually named and able to attend a gaming session.

So, here's roughly how the first session went down, in one drastically run-on sentence:

The intrepid party (consisting only of Sol and Kal) are killing time at the bar in between Kal's sets, when a new guy at the bar offers her five gold to sing a patriotic song (the aforementioned Fall of Thaliost), which she does so well that there are tears, and so the guy asks that if she's really as patriotic as her singing would suggest, she should come see him outside in twenty minutes, which they do, after wisely armoring up because even a D&D version of Mr. Magoo could see this plot hook coming, and when they get out there he gestures them into an alley, where two thugs are waiting with saps to try and knock Kal out, begging the question, who the heck'd want to capture some lowly bard chick, only they don't have so much time to ponder the question because they knocked one sucka out but the other one ran away, thankfully trailing blood to give Sol a clear path to follow, but only after they did the legwork to find out the changeling who was trying to bushwachk 'em was a member of Fairhaven's biggest criminal gang, the Dark Daggers (criminals never have a great imagination) and guess where they operate...the docks, which is exactly where the trail of blood heads, and the information they extracted (via a slightly confused but ultimately effective good cop/bad cop routine, which is hard to achieve when you're looking at less than 200 combined pounds worth of elf) from the one they captured only confirms this, so off our interpid heroes go to the docks, and after some bribing of the dockmaster (first attempt, with silver, earned only a snort) they find out where the boat they're looking for is, and off they go, settling into a determined and effective skulk in full view of the boat, where they see a distinctly feminine shape heading in for a discussion with whoever's already on board this particular river barge, which, they determine via good listen checks, happens to be Garth, the same fella who beckoned Kal outside in the first place, and Sol remembers he saw a similar looking woman watching the fracas in the alley where all this started, so they attempted an ambush but that got detected due to feet on creaky old dock boards, and so each group ambushed the other, which ended with thug#2 from the alley-ambush dead in the water (literally), Garth unconscious, and the woman, so far still unnamed, subdued, but the really interesting part is that she has the Least Dragonmark of Shadow in roughly the same spot Kal does, and among her papers include fraudulent (but Sivis-marked) ID papers naming her as Kaleoi Tialaen d'Phiarlan.

Cliffhanger ending!

Starting a Game

2007-04-21T21:36:00.000-04:00

You know, what with the internet and all this making the world smaller and crossing cultural divides people are doing these days, it oughta be easy to get a gaming group together, right? Just put up a couple of posts on various websites and you'll be gaming in no time.

Not so dang fast.

I started putting up posts at various forums...Giant in the Playground, Enworld, Nearbygamer...in early March. Finally, today, on April 21st, I was able to get a game together, with three players. Two of them, I already knew. One is my fiance and lives with me, so that was an easy sell. The second is a classmate. The third is the one person that my internet efforts managed to turn up. Now, thankfully, he has proven to be an extremely fun, cool, intelligent and with-it dude. But why only one person? How did this happen?

My suspicion is that it has something to do with where we are, which is Washington DC and its suburbs. Full of yuppies with a little too much money, not enough time, many desperate to seem cool and relevant and uninterested in D&D games. Now, bear in mind, I got lots of emails from fairly hard-core gamers, but they didn't seem too interested in what I presented as the style played at my table, with an emphasis on roleplay, character development, and fun over rules-faithfulness. These hardcore sorts wanted elaborate miniature setups. One wasn't particularly interested in that "early-level, beginning of the campaign stuff, it's boring."

To which I say, you aren't hardcore at all- you want badassery handed to you on a silver platter. Go away. Or, you don't want to flex your imagination, you just want to roll dice and get high numbers and feel like you have some power in your otherwise pathetic life. Either way, I don't need you at the table.

Regardless of the small numbers, though, I'm looking forward to the campaign. I have three intelligent, well-read, creative people. None of them have played 3.5 D&D at all, and so I don't have to worry about extensive rules quibbling getting in the way. Often I find people complaining that D&D has too many rules that get in the way of the fun. Well, to them I say, if the rules are inhibiting fun, ditch/modify/ignore the rules. Skip Williams isn't going to audit you and decide to take your books away.

Anyway, so, the campaign has launched; Eberron, 3.5, rules lite. Which means I ignore any rules I feel are getting in the way of people having fun and being heroes.